Is American Airlines blaming a child for a flight attendant trying to film her in toilet?

In Reality Check stories, Star-Telegram journalists dig deeper into questions over facts, consequences and accountability. Read more. Story idea? RealityCheck@star-telegram.com.

American Airlines faced backlash this week when attorneys responding to a lawsuit over a 9-year-old being filmed in plane lavatories by a flight attendant appeared to blame the girl for the alleged peeping.

But what exactly did the attorneys say, and is that what Fort Worth-based American Airlines really believes?

In a routine filing by attorneys for the airline on Monday, the company denied several of the claims made by the family of the girl. In denying negligence by the airline, the attorneys wrote that American would “show that any injuries or illnesses alleged to have been sustained” by the girl were caused by her “own fault and negligence,” and by her using a “compromised lavatory, which she knew or should have known contained a visible and illuminated recording device.”

American Airlines issued a statement Wednesday that called the attorney’s filing in a Travis County federal court an “error.”

“Our outside legal counsel retained with our insurance company made an error in this filing,” the airline said in a statement. “The included defense is not representative of our airline and we have directed it be amended this morning. We do not believe this child is at fault and we take the allegations involving a former team member very seriously.”

The airline continued that its “core mission is to care for people — and the foundation of that is the safety and security of our customers and team.”

Not everyone is buying it.

Paul Llewellyn, a San Francisco-based attorney representing the girl’s family, said in an email that American’s explanation was “simply not credible.”

“American Airlines has clearly faced intense media and public backlash over their blaming of a 9-year-old for being filmed. To claim that they filed the ‘wrong’ answer is simply not credible. But the bell cannot be unrung. They should never have taken such a position in the first place,” he said.

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What are the allegations against American Airlines?

In February, the family filed a lawsuit against American Airlines alleging that while on a flight from Austin to Los Angeles, their 9-year-old daughter got up to use the restroom. The flight attendant told her to wait outside while he cleaned up a mess.

The girl then used the restroom and returned to her seat.

According to the lawsuit, FBI agents showed up at the family’s home almost a year later and told them their daughter had been secretly filmed by flight attendant Estes Carter Thompson III, 37, of Charlotte. The authorities had been investigating Thompson on allegations of trying to film another child who was 14 at the time.

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Thompson was arrested in January and is in federal custody on charges of attempted sexual exploitation of children and possession of child pornography. In April, Thompson was indicted by a federal grand jury the charges.

The 9-year-old has since been “terrified and deeply concerned about her personal safety,” according to the family’s lawsuit, and suffers from depression, irritability and anxiety. The suit does not specify the amount of damages the family is seeking.

In the same court filing by the attorneys representing American, which the airline now says was in error, the attorneys also say the company was not at fault because Thompson’s actions were performed outside of the scope of his employment, and American was not liable.

The filing went on to say that American is not responsible for “intentional acts or crimes committed by its employees including defendant Thompson.”

American is also facing a lawsuit from the family of the 14-year-old. The girl from North Carolina got up to use the restroom and saw a cell phone taped to the toilet seat lid on a flight from Charlotte to Boston. She told her parents, and law enforcement met the plane when it landed.

Shortly after that incident, a search of Thompson’s iCloud account revealed four more instances between January and August 2023 of him recording minors using lavatories on planes. The victims were said to be 7, 9, 11 and 14 years old.

Prosecutors also allege that Thompson’s account had “hundreds of images of AI-generated child pornography.”

Thompson could face up to 30 years in prison if convicted.

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