A teen is suing United Airlines because she claims that the flight attendants on board a flight last year didn't do anything after she reported that another passenger was masturbating in front of her.
Monica Amestoy, an 18-year-old girl from San Gabriel, filed a lawsuit in Los Angeles Superior Court with attorney Gloria Allred this week. She claims that the incident occurred on a six-hour flight from New York to Los Angeles on Oct. 21, 2012, CBS reports.
Amestoy, who was 17 at the time, says that a man in the aisle across from her took out his penis and touched himself inappropriately. She says that the man had a blanket to hide his lewd behavior from other passengers.
Amestoy claims that she told flight attendants about the incident twice, but they replied that they couldn't do anything because there were no other available seats on the plane. The man was allegedly allowed to leave the plane when the flight landed and police were not notified.
Amestoy also told her father about the incident and he decided to call the police. The suspect pled guilty and was convicted of the crime. He has also been ordered to register as a sex offender.
"I was terrified and disgusted throughout the flight and kept hoping that the man would stop. But he did not. Except for brief moments when the flight attendant was standing next to him in the immediate vicinity," said Amestoy.
"I trusted United with one of my children, the most important thing in my life. I'm so angry that when she asked for help, she was ignored, dismissed and left helpless to endure a disgusting indecency," said Amestoy's mother, Margaret.
The family filed complaints to the airline and they gave them an apology in an email but Amestoy didn't feel this was good enough. Allred says Amestoy was trying to protect all of the passengers on board when she spoke up.
"This lawsuit is not just about asserting Monica's rights," she said. "It is about protecting all passengers from this kind of victimization in the future."
United Airlines spokeswoman Karen May released a statement saying, "The comfort and security of our customers is our top priority, and we will closely review this complaint when we receive it."
Amestoy is suing for negligence, false imprisonment, and intentional infliction of emotional distress and is demanding unspecified damages.
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