A teenage girl who was sexually assaulted on a late-night flight from Los Angeles to Orlando is suing Delta Airlines for negligence, alleging that flight attendants provided the assailant with alcohol and failed to restrain him after the assault.
As a result, lawyers for the 13-year-old girl and her family allege that the assailant groped another passenger during the June 23, 2022, flight and then embarrassed the minor girl by grabbing her groin and yelling at her when she and her family were trying to deplane.
“What was meant to be a fun family vacation turned into a traumatic, life-changing experience for one teenager and every parent’s worst nightmare,” the lawsuit filed in federal court said.
Brian Patrick Durning, 53, of Altadena He was sentenced to five years in prison in September. The defendant was convicted in the attack and is currently incarcerated in a low-security federal prison in New Jersey.
Lawyers for the girl and her family said in court documents that the attack affected not only the girl, but also her younger brother and mother, who were on the same flight, and that they continue to suffer from its effects.
The family is seeking compensation from Delta for past, present and future damages, including lost income for the girl, her siblings and her mother, as a result of the assault, although the lawsuit does not specify an amount.
The suit was filed in state court on Jan. 30 but was transferred to federal court earlier this month after the court determined the damages at issue exceeded $75,000 and the defendant and plaintiff live in different states, according to court records.
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In the lawsuit, the lawyers argue that Delta “facilitated” the attack, alleging that Durning was already visibly intoxicated when he boarded the flight and was offered alcohol at the start of the night flight.
In a brief statement, a Delta Air Lines spokesman declined to comment on the lawsuit.
“We have a zero-tolerance policy towards illegal activity on-board or at our airports and we cooperate with law enforcement to that end,” the statement said.
According to the lawsuit, the girl, who was 13 at the time (identified in court documents only as ZB), was traveling from Los Angeles International Airport to Orlando with her brother and mother to visit family.
During the night flight, the mother sat with her son, but the 13-year-old sat separately in the middle seat, with the woman on one side and Mr Durning on the other.
According to the lawsuit, the assault began after Durning was served alcohol on the plane and the cabin lights were dimmed.
Durning then began touching the girl’s hair, breasts and vagina while touching his own genitals, according to court documents.
At one point, Durning called the girl “Honey Boo” and told her he was taking her away from her family to Texas.
The girl already suffers from anxiety disorders and selective mutism, which prevented her from screaming or calling for help during the attack, according to the lawsuit.
The flight attendant finally noticed when the female passenger sitting opposite woke up and saw Durning quickly remove his hands from the minor.
Passengers yelled at Durning to stop, swapped seats with the girl and called for a flight attendant.
Durning allegedly groped a female passenger’s breast as she called for help.
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The family’s lawyers allege that flight attendants did not restrain Durning or seat him in the back of the plane, but instead moved him to a seat diagonally in front of the ZB.
This happened despite ZB’s mother asking them to move the object out of her daughter’s sight, according to the lawsuit.
According to the lawsuit, Durning continued to harass ZB and her family by groping himself and looking at them throughout the flight.
The lawsuit alleges that he was allowed to wander around the plane, harassing ZB and groping himself in her presence.
Durning is also accused of groping a female passenger sitting next to him after the transfer before the plane landed in Orlando.
At the end of the flight, as the family was leaving the plane through the passenger boarding bridge, Durning allegedly grabbed his groin, yelled and appeared to throw his cell phone away as they passed by.
Since the incident, ZB has suffered nightmares, post-traumatic stress, depression and panic attacks, his lawyers claim.
After missing about 40 days of school, she began to hurt herself, her grades dropped, she refused to hug family members and “reacted to her father touching her shoulders,” according to the lawsuit.
“Although he was once a high-achieving student and popular with his classmates, he now struggles academically, avoids school and is socially isolated,” the lawsuit states.
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Her brother, who was 16 at the time, also suffered from anxiety disorders and now had a fear of flying and of strange men, according to court documents.
“He has become afraid of dark public places such as movie theaters and refuses to go anywhere outside of school or home without his mother,” the report said.
This story was originally Los Angeles Times.
