Woman sues American Airlines after passenger ‘grabbed her buttocks’

A woman is suing American Airlines over claims it failed to protect her from an ‘uncontrollably drunk’ passenger who allegedly sexually harassed her.

Gretchen Stelter, 42, was sat in business class on board a flight from Dallas-Fort Worth to Chicago on October 29 when she engaged in small talk with the man next to her. 

But she said he increasingly got drunk and she grew uncomfortable as he allegedly repeatedly touched and tried to kiss her.

Stelter claimed he also grabbed her buttocks while she was moving to exchange seats with a sympathetic passenger, according to a lawsuit filed in Illinois on May 22.

She has accused American Airlines of not taking action to protect her and alleged employees ‘victim-shamed and blamed’ her. 

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Stelter was on her way back from Mexico following a trip with friends and was editing a book manuscript before the incident. 

But the man next to her began chatting to her and she decided to engage in small talk. 

‘It was pretty clear right away that he wanted to chat,’ she told the Chicago Tribune. ‘He just kept talking.’

She said they were speaking about ordinary things before he got progressively drunk on the flight.

Stelter claimed he complimented her appearance and said he wished his girlfriend was more like her. 

But she continued to rebuff his advances and told him she was ‘happily married.’ 

There were two flight attendants in the area when he ‘made vile, offensive and harassing comments’ to Stelter, according to the lawsuit.

He allegedly told her he was going to perform a sex act and would ‘wear her down’ and ‘f***’ her. 

‘Honestly, I was trapped,’ she said. ‘I was in 3A. He was in 3B. My only way to get out of that seat was either to have some sort of help or to clamber over him, giving him full access to parts of my body that I did not feel like giving him access to.’

She added that the man told a flight attendant he was just ‘having fun’ and the employee took ‘no action to protect’ her.

‘He walked away, allowing the assailant to keep the alcohol (that) was left in his glass as well as the bottle of vodka then remaining in plain sight on his tray table,’ the lawsuit claimed. 

Stelter claimed the man’s behavior got worse as he tried to touch her, hold her hand and kiss her before spitting on the floor. 

Her lawsuit insists two flight attendants witnessed the passenger’s actions but did nothing to help her despite her complaints. But they allegedly warned him not to touch the other passengers. 

‘I think I was in a little bit of shock that no one was helping me,’ Stelter said. ‘I wanted to curl into a ball and be as tiny as possible because I didn’t want to be touched anymore.’

She added that she went to swap seats with another passenger who saw she was uncomfortable when the man allegedly grabbed her buttocks as she stepped over him to leave. 

Police removed the man from the plane upon landing because he was ‘too drunk to move safely,’ according to the lawsuit. 

The lawsuit alleges that Stetler was ‘chastised and blamed’ by gate agents following the incident.

She was reportedly told she did not do enough to stop the man’s behavior and she decided to file a complaint with American Airlines.

A customer relations worker called her and allegedly yelled and blamed her for the incident.

‘After explaining that she had alerted the American flight attendants to the assailant’s behavior and they had not taken any action in response, the American customer relations employee yelled at and blamed (Stelter) for the incident, leaving (her) in tears,’ the lawsuit states.

But Stelter said she received another call from someone on American Airlines’ executive team who admitted the other employee did not handle the situation properly.

She claimed she was told a member of the global investigations team would reach out to her, but this apparently did not happen.

The passenger next to her was not named in the lawsuit, and it is not clear if he is facing criminal charges.

Stelter said she signed a complaint against him and has been in touch with the FBI.

DailyMail.com has contacted American Airlines for comment.