An NFL player is suing United, alleging a woman sexually assaulted him on a flight and the airline apologized with a $150 voucher
- An unnamed NFL player and a second man filed a lawsuit against United Airlines on Wednesday.
- They alleged that staff members didn't sufficiently intervene after they complained a woman had sexually assaulted them during a flight.
- The men say a woman who sat next to them on a February flight from Los Angeles to Newark, New Jersey, harassed the NFL player for wearing a mask, then groped both of them.
- They say they want the lawsuit to show that sexual assault can happen to anyone, regardless of gender, race, and the victim's physical attributes.
An unnamed NFL player and a second man filed a lawsuit against United Airlines on Wednesday, saying that they were sexually assaulted on a flight and staff members did little to intervene.
The lawsuit, filed in Los Angeles Superior Court, seeks unspecified damages following allegations of sexual assault, sexual battery, negligence, and intentional and negligent infliction of emotional distress, CBS Los Angeles first reported.
According to the lawsuit, the woman grabbed the NFL player's penis, ripped off his face mask, and harassed him and the other man despite pleas for her to stop.
The alleged incident happened during a red-eye flight from Los Angeles to Newark, New Jersey, on February 10.
The men who filed the suit, identified only as black men named John Doe 1 and John Doe 2, say that when they complained about the alleged harassment and assault, members of the flight's staff gave them each a $150 voucher but did little more to intervene.
A representative for United told Insider that the woman was moved to a different seat, too.
"The safety and well-being of our customers is always our top priority," the representative said. "In this instance, the customer involved was moved to a different seat. Because litigation is now pending, we're unable to provide further comment."
The woman castigated the NFL player for wearing a mask and later sexually assaulted the two men, the lawsuit says
The incident started shortly after the woman boarded the plane, looking "disheveled and unbalanced," according to the lawsuit. The men said she appeared to be intoxicated and took "unknown prescription medication."
The plaintiffs said that shortly the woman boarded the plane, she harassed the NFL player — John Doe 1 — for wearing a mask.
He told the woman he was wearing the mask because he had read news reports about the novel coronavirus, and she responded by calling him "frightening" and hitting his arm, the lawsuit said.
The second man then went to complain to a flight attendant, but the attendant did not investigate the situation, according to the lawsuit.
The plaintiffs said that moments later, the woman started making unwanted sexual advances toward the NFL player, and "groped and massaged" his thighs and knees.
"Fearful of the perception of being a male victim and the racial stigma of being a young African-American male, [the player] patiently pleaded for [the woman] to stop and removed her hand," the lawsuit reads.
The NFL player said in the lawsuit that at one point in the flight, he "complained in front of the entire plane."
He then got up to tell a flight attendant in person, and, according to the lawsuit, the woman moved over one seat and started groping the second man.
Flight attendants then checked on the situation, and moved the woman to another row after she admitted to drinking and taking pills, the lawsuit said.
The plaintiffs said that United staff members gave both of them $150 vouchers following the alleged incident, but the men say that's not enough.
"United does not have and/or enforce adequate policies and procedures to prevent sexual assaults on its flights and to properly respond to such incidents that do happen," the suit alleges.
The men are seeking unspecified damages and are calling on United to keep their passengers safe.
"Our goal is to shine a light on how assaults can, and are, being made on men, and not just women," the men said in a statement. "This is significant, because assault is assault, regardless of the gender, race, and physical attributes of the victim. Once these characteristics are added into the equation, the usual stigma and social stereotypes associated with sexual assaults are amplified."
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