A woman is suing American Airlines after she was groped by her seatmate on an overnight flight. She alleges AA knew her assailant had a “known history of predatory sexual misconduct” and that the airline tried to “victim-blame” her after the onboard assault.
American Airlines Sued After Woman Alleges Sexual Assault By Passenger With Known History
Barbara Morgan says she was attacked on an American Airlines flight from San Francisco (SFO) to Dallas (DFW) on April 24, 2024 by 55-year-old Cherian Abraham. During the redeye flight, she alleges Abraham touched her several times, including reaching between her legs, even after she yelled at him to stop.
She did not come forward during the flight and when she did after the plane landed in Dallas, she claims her story was dismissed and she was scolded by a gate agent for waiting to get help when she could have done so onboard. Why wait? Morgan says she was afraid of Abraham and also feared that the fight would be diverted if she spoke up.
Her lawsuit, filed in the US District Court for the Northern District of California, further alleges that American Airlines knew of Abraham’s proclivities due to prior accusations against him yet continued to let him fly, even on redeye flights like the SFO-DFW flight when the lights are turned down. According to her attorney:
“American’s decisions and actions directly led to her sexual assault, and then further traumatized her by ignoring her complaints after the attack. American Airlines allowed this predator to fly and to assault another woman after Barbara Morgan, until the FBI stepped in, and he was criminally charged.”
Morgan is claiming:
- Negligence against American Airlines
- Intentional Infliction of Emotional Distress against American Airlines
- Fraudulent Concealment against American Airlines
- Sexual Battery against Cherian Abraham
- Gender Violence against American Airlines and Cherian Abraham
- Intentional Infliction of Emotional Distress against Cherian Abraham
- Violations of the Bane Act against Cherian Abraham
(the Bane Act is a California law that forbids people from interfering with a person’s constitutional rights by force or threat of violence.)
Abraham was eventually arrested by the FBI (and banned from flying on American Airlines), but Morgan claims it was too late and she has suffered massive pain as a result. She claims American Airlines knew
As an aside, Abraham was not arrested for events stemming from the Morgan incident. Instead, he was arrested on March 18, 2025 for an incident that occurred on another American Airlines flight, AA2076 (between Savannah and Charlotte), where a 22-year-old woman claimed he groped her breasts. Twice.
A prior incident in 2023 also emerged, which is the basis for Morgan’s claim that AA knew or should have known that Abraham was a threat.
CONCLUSION
A woman is suing American Airlines and her alleged predator after being assaulted on an American Airlines redeye flight. She claims that AA should have banned this man after the first complaint against him in 2023, long before her flight in 2024.
What are your thoughts on this lawsuit?
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She is reaching for the deep pocket, AA. Prompt reporting on the flight is the best course of action.
There was a case of a different woman fabricating a story about groping. Her story kept changing ranging from he exposed himself to he ejaculated semen all over the place. It was reported to the airline, Hawaiian, several weeks after the fact. The man was found not guilty during a trial. There were several witnesses seated nearby reporting nothing happened. The young woman did have an animus towards the man and his girlfriend, commenting on their childish conversation between the man and his girlfriend. The point of bringing this up is that reporting an incident on the plane is best.
@derek
American companies pushed for less regulation, with the justification that anyone wronged could and should use civil litigation and that would get the mechanism to keep companies accountable. This isn’t “reaching for the deep pocket”, it is doing the right thing in the American system. Corporations have been propagandizing against lawsuits ever since to get out of any sort of accountability, so the public perception is that they are frivolous cash grabs.
Why bring up some totally unrelated story about someone making up an assault? Do you bring up some random case about someone lying about being robbed on any story about a break in? She apparently reported it weeks later, which is nothing like reporting it as soon as you deplane. Not reporting it while you are still trapped in a metal tube where you literally can’t escape from your assaulter is very reasonable. The gate agents and your reaction are pretty good indicators that she would have no confidence it would be taken seriously onboard and he could retaliate against her, even violently. There is no cop on board to put in him in handcuffs even if it was taken seriously. It would be cold comfort if she reported it just to satisfy people like you, and was beaten half to death while shocked cabin crew and passengers struggled to reach him to pull him off of her.
If she reported it, she would have been moved. There would be no retaliation. If there were, someone would come to the rescue unless the guy were 300 lbs. and 7 feet tall.
Just curious if there is a sexual that cannot be characterized as ‘grotesque’ ….
Redundant….
I would say brushing against your leg or giving you an unwarranted hug, while unacceptable, is not nearly as bad as groping breasts or reaching under a skirt…all are sexual assault/battery.
The guy should have been a lifetime No-Fly member for any flight into or out of the USA before this happened. What I can’t figure is how the deluded jerks that try to defend guys like this – whether through victim shaming, pretending to doubt the woman’s story, or just trying to downplay these incidents – can look at themselves in the mirror and try to pretend that they’re normal people instead of scummy creeps.
What are my thoughts on this lawsuit ? In terms of monetary compensation ; not much. Unless the victim has been experiencing trauma and racked up a high amount of medical bills .
It’s hard to take this lawsuit seriously when the victim herself didn’t notify anyone on the plane of the assault. Based upon the above account the assault occurred over a lengthy period of time and that she yelled at him. If so, how was she not able to push the button above her seat or get up and privately notify a flight attendant? How do we know she was a victim? Also, how does she know that AA knew he was an offender?
This suit seems hyperbolic and of someone looking for a check.
Airlines don’t know your criminal background or mental or physical health history. Unless you are already on the no fly list.