After controversial lavatory-camera defense, this law firm won't be representing airline in suit
Wilson Elser Moskowitz Edelman & Dicker is no longer representing American Airlines in a lawsuit filed on behalf of a 9-year-old girl after the law firm argued that she was negligent for using a “compromised lavatory.” (Photo from Shutterstock)
Updated: Wilson Elser Moskowitz Edelman & Dicker is no longer representing American Airlines in a lawsuit filed on behalf of a 9-year-old girl after the law firm argued that she was negligent for using a “compromised lavatory.”
The firm cited negligence as a defense in a suit alleging that a flight attendant had secretly recorded the girl when she used the toilet, report ABC News, the Boston Herald (here and here), the Associated Press and Original Jurisdiction in a Judicial Notice column.
The girl “knew or should have known [the lavatory] contained a visible and illuminated recording device,” the court filing said.
American Airlines said Wilson Elser had been retained by its insurance company in the suit filed by the girl’s parents in Travis County, Texas.
The defense “is not representative of our airline,” American Airlines said in a statement.
The argument has been removed from the court filing.
The new firm representing American Airlines in the suit is Kelly Hart & Hallman.
The now-former flight attendant accused of making the recording, 36-year-old Estes Carter Thompson III of Charlotte, North Carolina, was arrested after a 14-year-old girl allegedly noticed the phone and took photos, the Associated Press reports. Authorities said they also recovered lavatory videos of the 9-year-old and three other girls using aircraft lavatories.
A Wilson Elser media contact did not immediately respond to the ABA Journal’s emailed request for comment.
The 9-year-old girl’s parents are represented by Lewis & Llewellyn, which has also filed suit on behalf of the 14-year-old girl in federal court in North Carolina. Court filings indicate that Wilson Elser was also the defense counsel in that case.
Paul T. Llewellyn of Lewis & Llewellyn told Law360 that he has learned that Wilson Elser is also expected to withdraw as counsel in the teenager’s case.
Updated May 29 at 10:25 a.m. to add Paul T. Llewellyn’s comment about the second case.
