American Airlines has replaced the law firm that notified the judge a 9 year old girl was negligent in not noticing that a camera phone was taped to the seat of an airplane toilet.
An airline spokesperson confirmed Friday that the law firm Wilson Elser is no longer defending American in a lawsuit filed by the girl’s family.
American retained Kelly Hart & Hallman, a Fort Worth-based firm that has done extensive work for American in other areas.
The change in lawyers came after Wilson Elser said in a court document that any damage to the girl could have been due to her “mistake and negligence” for using the restroom, “which she knew or should have known was a visible and illuminated recording device. ”
a former American flight attendant is accused of luring girls to the toilet after taping his iPhone to the toilet seat and explaining that the seat was broken. Estes Carter Thompson III, who was fired by American, pleaded not guilty this week about attempts at sexual exploitation of children and the possession of images of child sexual abuse.
The 9-year-old’s family sued the American in court in Austin, Texas, after the FBI told them videos of the girl had been found on the flight attendant’s phone.
“With the benefit of this new legal representation, we hope that American Airlines will now take a fresh look at the matter and finally take some measure of responsibility for what happened to our client,” said Paul Llewellyn, attorney for the family of the girl.
Llewellyn also represents the family of a 14-year-old who is suing an American in federal court in North Carolina over the alleged actions of the same flight attendant.
Wilson Elser did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
