A woman who was traveling from Seattle to Honolulu was sexually assaulted by a fellow passenger who became increasingly drunk during the nightmare flight, according to a new lawsuit against Alaska Airlines and the alleged harasser.
On May 14, 2023, the woman was on a flight to Hawaii with her book club, sitting across the aisle from a male passenger whom she deemed to be "sober" at the start of the trip, according to a press release from attorney Mark Lindquist, who filed the lawsuit.
The victim alleges that Alaska Airlines staff then overserved red wine to the passenger, and she witnessed him become more and more inebriated over the course of the flight. At one point, the woman says the drunk passenger grabbed her hand and tried to give her a kiss.
After falling asleep for some time, the drunk passenger woke up and — according to the lawsuit — Alaska Airlines staff once again served him alcohol.
The victim says she had a headache and wanted to ignore the drunken passenger, so she covered her eyes with a bag of ice and tried to go to sleep. Around that time, the drunken man allegedly reached across the aisle and grabbed the victim's right breast and groped her, the lawsuit says.
The lawsuit alleges negligence, assault, and battery against the drunk passenger and negligence against Alaska Airlines for allegedly overserving the passenger and for failing to protect the victim.
"Alcohol is not an excuse,” Lindquist said in a press release announcing the lawsuit. "Alcohol is not a defense to sexual assault. Still, alcohol seems to be involved in every one of these cases I’ve seen. Airlines need to be more cautious about overserving."
After returning home, the victim reportedly contacted the US Attorney's Office in Hawaii multiple times to see if her alleged attacker had faced any charges. She was reportedly told that he had been made to pay a fine, which she felt was inadequate.
"With this lawsuit, our client wants accountability and justice,” Lindquist said in a statement. "She doesn’t want drunken sexual assaults happening to others.”
Alaska Airlines says it does not comment on active litigation.The Independent has requested comment from Lindquist.
There have been several sexual assaults reported on Alaska Airlines flights in the last two years.
In January, a man from Deering, Alaska, named Trayton Ballot was arrested at the Seattle-Tacoma International airport after he was accused of groping a 17-year-old girl who was sitting next to him on a flight from Anchorage, Alaska.
The victim was in a window seat and Ballot was seated next to her, according to the Department of Justice. He allegedly pretended to fall asleep before he began rubbing the girl's inner thigh. Despite physically removing the man's hand, Ballot allegedly continued to grope at her legs until the girl called for assistance from the flight crew.
Ballot was arrested in Seattle and and has pleaded not guilty after he was indicted for abrasive sexual contact.
In March 2024, Justin Baker, 41, was flying from Burbank to Seattle when he allegedly showed an 18-year-old woman sitting next to him sexually explicit texts between him and his wife before proceeding to grope legs, genitals, and breast.
The woman refused his advances and attempted to escape her seat to seek help from flight staff, at which point Baker allegedly groped her again, according to the Sacramento Bee.
Baker was arrested when the plane landed in Washington, and was later convicted of abusive sexual contact.
