American Airways sued after allegedly mocking assault sufferer
Including insult to harm.
An American Airways passenger named David Cruz is suing the airline after flight attendants allegedly ignored his complaints about getting assaulted by an intoxicated passenger — and even blamed him for inflicting the disturbance.
The kerfuffle reportedly occurred again in September 2025, however not too long ago got here to gentle by way of a grievance filed at a Miami district court docket. He had reportedly sought greater than $75,000 in compensation as a consequence of damages together with “psychological and emotional misery, anxiousness, humiliation, and lack of capability for the enjoyment of life.”
Per the doc, surfaced by Paddleyourownkanoo, the lawyer had been flying from Miami, Florida to Los Angeles, California on a heavily-discounted standby “buddy go” that was obtainable as a result of his mother works as a top quality management inspector for the airline.
Cruz even had the great fortune of being seated in 17B, which had an empty seat beside it.
Nonetheless, his solitude was short-lived as a result of, partway by the journey, crew members transferred an unruly passenger to the seat subsequent to him — 17A — after the person had been concerned in an altercation with somebody additional again.
The plaintiff discovered it appalling that they’d resolve to deal with the hellion on this method, slightly than “restrain him,” segregate him from different vacationers, or take different acceptable measures.
He added that, given the person’s prior conduct, this passenger was at a excessive threat of continuous his drunken rampage on this row as properly, per the grievance.
Lo and behold, Cruz’s worst fears got here true after the passenger allegedly elbowed him within the ribs three separate occasions, inflicting bruising. His allegedly inebriated seatmate additionally threw a bottle of wine over him, soaking his garments and paperwork, and even knocked over Cruz’s personal drink.
However when the plaintiff flagged the difficulty to flight attendants, they uncared for to “intervene” on his behalf.
Upon arrival, a feminine flight attendant confronted Cruz in a “hostile” method whereas he was nonetheless aboard, refusing to let him communicate and ripping into him over his buddy go and D2 precedence — a non-revenue standby journey standing.
“TELL ME THE TRUTH! WHERE DO YOU WORK? YOU ARE A D2, DON’T LIE — YOU ARE LYING TO ME! YOU WORK IN MIAMI, RIGHT? WHERE DO YOU WORK?” the air hostess yelled at Cruz, per the doc. “OH YEAH! YOU ARE AN ATTORNEY, BUT YOU FLY D2? HAHAHA, YOU ARE LYING, JUST TELL THE TRUTH.”
They added, “YOU KNOW YOU CAN’T CAUSE PROBLEMS BECAUSE YOU CAN LOSE YOUR FLIGHT BENEFITS, YOU ARE A NON-REV. YOU KNOW THAT, RIGHT?”
To make issues worse, the plaintiff obtained a name days later from American’s company safety division, who accused him of “passenger misconduct” whereas an inside investigation by AA revealed the flight attendants accused him of being intoxicated.
He discovered this allegation baseless provided that they didn’t have something to drink earlier than boarding, including that his solely beverage on board was knocked over by his belligerent neighbor.
AA has since been issued a summons — though they haven’t but responded — whereas the FBI is at the moment probing the alleged inebriated passenger’s conduct.
