Minnesota woman files lawsuit against off-duty worker with Delta Air Lines for unwanted groping, kissing
The suit alleges the victim was 'kissed on the mouth' and 'rubbed on her buttocks' during a 3-hour flight
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Flight 175 landed in Atlanta, Georgia on Tuesday after encountering severe turbulence. (Credit: @helloayo/LOCAL NEWS X/TMX)
A Minnesota woman has filed a lawsuit against an alleged off-duty employee of a Delta Air Lines subsidiary for unwanted touching, kissing, and groping during a Delta flight from Las Vegas to Minneapolis.
The lawsuit alleges that flight attendants continued to serve their off-duty colleague alcohol, even after the passenger expressed concern.
Alison Petri, the woman filing the lawsuit, tells FOX 9 Minneapolis she was on a nightmare flight from Las Vegas to Minneapolis last year, claiming she was sexually assaulted by what she believed to be a heavily intoxicated off-duty Delta employee.
The lawsuit details how Petri was "kissed on the mouth" and "rubbed on her buttocks" during the three-hour flight all while her seat-mate, who was traveling with a crew bag on a flight pass, downed several alcoholic beverages.
A Minnesota woman filed a lawsuit against an alleged off-duty employee for unwanted touching, kissing, and groping on a Delta flight. (Celal Gunes/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images/File / Getty Images)
In the lawsuit, Petri claims when she approached the flight attendants about her concern for the woman's level of intoxication, they continued to serve the off-duty employee her fifth can of wine.
According to court records, after the flight landed and passengers were exiting the plane, surveillance photos from the airport allegedly showed the off-duty employee falling down the escalator because she was so intoxicated.
After Petri reported the incident to Delta agents when they landed, court records state that Facebook messages appeared to show the flight attendants warning the off-duty employee about the complaint.
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A Delta Air Lines flight attendant sells food on board a flight to San Francisco. (Robert Nickelsberg/Getty Images/File / Getty Images)
"These Delta employees worked very quickly to cover up the misconduct of their friend and co-worker," Storms told FOX 9.
The court records stated that the off-duty employee claims not to remember the encounter, while her colleague responded saying, "Yeah, you were pretty bombed."
According to the lawsuit, the same person alerted her the very next day to a possible investigation, advising her to, "Stick to your story. Are you on meds? Just asking because that could help with the alcohol issue."
A Delta Air Lines flight departs Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport in Atlanta. (Elijah Nouvelage/Bloomberg via Getty Images/File / Getty Images)
In a statement to Fox News Digital, a Delta Air Lines spokesperson said that the airlines is aware of the incident.
"While we don’t have any specific comment on this pending litigation, Delta does not tolerate inappropriate or unlawful behavior. Nothing is more important than the safety of our customers and our people," a Delta Air Lines spokesperson told Fox News Digital.
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Flight attendants hand out refreshments on a Delta Air Lines flight. (Kent Nishimura/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images/File / Getty Images)
The spokesperson added that they cannot confirm if the aforementioned employee is still employed by the airline or any of its subsidiaries.
"I can also add that the alleged assailant at the time was an employee of a Delta subsidiary, but not directly employed by Delta," the spokesperson said.
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According to court records, over the summer, the off-duty employee was convicted of a disorderly conduct charge in connection with the case and sentenced to one year of unsupervised monitoring.