American Airlines has replaced the law firm that told a judge a 9-year-old girl was negligent because he didn’t notice that a cellular phone with a camera was attached to the seat in an airplane toilet.
An airline spokesman confirmed Friday that the Wilson Elser law firm isn’t any longer defending American in a lawsuit filed by the girl’s family.
American hired Kelly Hart & Hallman, a Fort Worth-based law firm that has done extensive work for American on other matters.
The change of attorney got here after Wilson Elser stated in a court document that any harm caused to the girl was on account of her “fault and negligence” because she used the restroom “which she knew or should have known contained a visible and illuminated recording device.”
A former American flight attendant is accused of tricking girls into using the bathroom after taping his iPhone to the bathroom seat and declaring the seat was broken. Estes Carter Thompson III, who was fired from American, pleaded not guilty This week it was about attempted sexual exploitation of youngsters and possession of images of kid sexual abuse.
The nine-year-old’s family sued American Airlines in a court in Austin, Texas, after the FBI informed them that videos of the girl had been found on the flight attendant’s cellular phone.
“With this new legal representation, we hope that American Airlines will now look at the case with fresh eyes and finally accept some responsibility for what happened to our client,” said Paul Llewellyn, an attorney for the girl’s family.
Llewellyn can be representing the family of a 14-year-old who’s suing American Airlines in federal court in North Carolina over the alleged actions of the identical flight attendant.
Wilson Elser didn’t immediately reply to a request for comment.
