Trial Set to Begin Against Megachurch Pastor's Wife
A suit filed by a flight attendant who claims that the wife of Houston pastor and televangelist Joel Osteen assaulted her in 2005 on a flight from Houston to Vail, Colo., is set for opening statements today.
The suit claims Victoria Osteen, who is a co-pastor of Lakewood Church, pushed Continental Airlines flight attendant Sharon Brown into a bathroom door and elbowed her because of a stain on her first-class seat, the Associated Press reports.
The defendants characterized the suit as silly, but Brown’s lawyers counter that they hope the suit will show that “celebrity status doesn’t take precedence.”
Victoria Osteen was fined $3,000 by the Federal Aviation Administration in the incident for interfering with a crew member. The incident caused the flight to be delayed for more than two hours.
A jury was ultimately seated after several in the pool reportedly said they were starstruck by the Osteens.
