SHERMAN OAKS—Two unnamed NFL players filed a lawsuit against United Airlines on Wednesday, May 20 with the Los Angeles County Superior Court for allegedly allowing several acts of sexual assault to occur while on board.
The plaintiffs, identified as John Doe 1 and John Doe 2, claim that while on a flight leaving from LAX to Newark, New Jersey on February 10, a woman sexually harassed and assaulted them.
The plaintiffs are suing United Airlines noting they failed to assist them through proper counsel and assisting in the investigations by refusing to give the identification of the assailant, flight attendants and other potential witnesses.
In the complaint, John Doe 1 states the assailant first started an interaction with him because he was wearing a face mask, an early precaution to COVID-19, in which the assailant said Doe 1 should move if he was sick.
John Doe 1 made multiple attempts to get the flight attendants attention about the situation.
The report further states the assailant became aggressive and ripped the mask off of John Doe 1, while inappropriately touching him without consent. The plaintiff allegedly shouted and went to notify a flight attendant.
The assailant allegedly moved over to assault John Doe 2 before being removed by United Airlines staff and admitted to being under the influence of alcohol and pills.
The complaint lays out the alleged fault on United Airlines part:
“Upon information and belief, UNITED does not have and/or enforces adequate polices and procedures to prevent sexual assaults on its flights, and to properly respond to such incidents that do happen.”
The suit is awaiting trial, and United Airlines has yet to release a statement about the incident.
