American Airlines Fires Legal Team After Shifting Blame Onto 9-Year-Old Girl in Lavatory Recording Incident

By Trisha Andrada

May 27, 2024 12:48 AM EDT

A new legal team has taken over representing American Airlines after the previous one blamed a 9-year-old girl for failing to notice a hidden camera phone in the aircraft restroom.

American Airlines Now Represented by New Lawyers

On Friday, May 24, an official from American Airlines confirmed that the Wilson Elser law firm no longer represents the business in the complaint that the girl's family brought, as reported by the Associated Press.

American Airlines hired the Fort Worth law firm Kelly Hart & Hallman, who has considerable experience representing the business in different situations.

The switch in legal representation occurred when Wilson Elser said in a court filing last week that the girl might be held responsible for any injury that may have occurred due to her "fault and negligence" in accessing the restroom. The filing also said the girl knew or should have known that the lavatory had a visible and lit recording device.

The parents and their lawyer were shocked and furious.

Flight Attendant Accused of Secretly Filming Girls in Lavatory

Former American Airlines flight attendant Estes Carter Thompson III is facing accusations of encouraging female passengers to use the restroom, where he would attach his iPhone to the seat cover with tape and make it seem like the seat was broken to film them secretly. Thompson, who the airline fired, entered a not-guilty plea to charges of attempting to exploit minors and possessing images of child sexual assault sexually.

After the authorities informed the 9-year-old girl's family that recordings of her were discovered on Thompson's phone, they took the matter to state court in Austin, Texas, to sue the airline.

Paul Llewellyn, the family's attorney, is optimistic that, with new legal representation, American Airlines will reevaluate the case and accept responsibility for what happened.