UPDATE: View From The Wing shares this update:
Bottom line is the state dropped the charges on May 16, 2025 via its filing of a Nolle Prosequi. …
Took longer than I’d have expected. Fleischmann (Defendant) ponied up for private counsel, so you might say he faced a substantial “fine” in the way of attorney fees.
I don’t see anything in the dockets showing that there was a diversion agreement or deferred prosecution agreement (e.g., do x hours community service and write a letter of apology and we drop charges, etc.). So it’s tough to say what exactly led to the dropping of the charge.
Good guess is the victim cooled down and told the state she’d rather drop charges than have to show up to court herself at some point. In my experience, a battery case (even a “touch battery”) doesn’t get dropped/diverted without the victim’s blessing.
(Nolle prosequi, Latin for “we shall no longer prosecute,” is a formal declaration by a prosecutor that they are dropping criminal charges against a defendant, either completely or for some counts)
Good…
A United Airlines flight attendant was arrested for tapping the shoulder of a very rude woman, exposing how absurd Florida’s battery law is and also how intolerable speakerphone culture is in shared spaces.
United Flight Attendant Arrested After Shoulder Tap Over Loud Phone Call
A United Airlines flight attendant was arrested at Tampa International Airport (TPA) after a dispute with a fellow airline employee on a crew shuttle bus escalated into a battery charge. The incident occurred earlier this year, but body-camera footage released this week shows how a petty argument spiraled into handcuffs under Florida’s expansive definition of battery.
The confrontation began at an employee shuttle stop when a Cayman Airways agent was speaking loudly on her phone, using speakerphone. The United attendant objected and told her to stop. What followed was a verbal exchange that deteriorated quickly, including insults and accusations of racism.
The flight attendant said that when he told her she was being rude, she responded by calling him a “racist” and told him to “go f*ck yourself” while flipping him off. They both got on the employee bus.
On the bus, the United flight attendant admits to tapping on the woman’s shoulder to get her attention. Later, he followed her into the terminal to obtain identifying information so he could report her conduct to her employer. According to the Cayman Airways employee, he told her that he was going to get her fired and that President Trump would deport her.
Law enforcement was called, and under Florida law, any unwanted physical contact can constitute battery. Officers arrested him on the spot after he admitted to tapping her on the shoulder.
Here’s the police bodycam footage:
People Who Use Speakerphones In Public Are The Worst
People who talk loudly on speakerphones in airports, buses, and shuttles are the scum of the earth. Airports are already stressful, noisy environments. Forcing everyone around you to listen to your personal conversation is antisocial behavior and should be called out.
There is no universe in which blasting a phone call on speaker in a confined public space is acceptable. Use earbuds. Hold the phone to your ear. Or wait. If you choose none of those options, you should expect verbal pushback. What a rude, nasty woman.
And yet…
Florida’s Battery Law Is Ridiculous…But So Is The Flight Attendant
Florida’s battery statute is breathtakingly broad. Any intentional, unwanted physical contact qualifies, regardless of force or injury. That means a tap on the shoulder is treated the same as a shove or a punch.
This is not sensible lawmaking. It turns what I’d call “social friction” into criminal exposure. Police should not be arresting people over behavior that most adults would describe as mildly rude or awkward. If the legal system cannot distinguish between violence and trivial contact, it loses credibility…
All that said, the United flight attendant did himself no favors. Touching someone during an argument is a terrible idea. Following someone through the terminal to gather information so you can report them to their employer only makes a bad situation worse.
If his goal was to de-escalate, he failed spectacularly. If his goal was to assert authority, he chose exactly the wrong way to do it. He could have walked away, cooled off, and filed a report later. Instead, he escalated a minor annoyance into an arrest. And I do note the irony of him warning that Trump would deport her while wearing a BLM pin…
CONCLUSION
This incident represents a nexus of atrocious public behavior and an overreaching criminal statute. Florida’s battery law is far too broad and invites unnecessary escalation, but that does not excuse poor judgment by the flight attendant, who should have remembered the kindergarten lesson that we keep our hands to ourselves.
People should not be arrested over a shoulder tap, but that requires changing the law in Florida.
Hat Tip: PYOK
Her first accusation was “racism”? I’m shocked. She sounds like a sociopath. His union-appointed attorney will destroy her in the witness box. I hope she cries.
How dare anyone speak loudly in French! Shoulda slapped her instead! /s
No, he shouldn’t have touched her, at all. That said, a couple of taps on the shoulder is hardly “battery” by any reasonable definition. That’s she’s intent on making a federal case out of it further demonstrates that she’s a horrible, selfish boor with a gigantic chip on her shoulder.
Agreed. He shouldn’t have touched her. She should have been more respectful, too. It’s all a failure of decency. Yet, Florida law is bad in this case. And people have abused it to try to settle scores. ‘I’ll sue you for battery!’
It’s Florida, and everyone knows why people live there. You get what you pay for….
And those who fly there for work should probably receive hazard pay.
She deserved to be slapped, not tapped on the shoulder. Horrible self-entitled piece of garbage who does not belong in this country, along with anyone else who takes loudly in their cellphone in public places.
Oh, here I was joking about that above, yet you really believe it. Yeah, how dare she speak French! *facepalm*
He could always try to find a way to use the stand your ground law because he felt menaced by her.
“So, anyway, I started blasting…”
Should have given her the old ” Quiet Piggy” without touching. Likely plays better in Florida.
As a Deaf person, we often tap someone on the shoulder to get their attention. After this incident, it made me think twice about how we interact with other people in Florida.
You’re fine, and people should understand, and if you’re ever in Florida, which has bad laws, and end up getting sued/prosecuted, hire an attorney, get yourself out of that mess. Apologies from a former FL resident.
I recommend carrying a bullhorn.
Florida law breach of the peace Florida statute 877.03 (disorderly conduct) disturbing the peace and quiet of others. Too bad the officers don’t know the law. To bad we have so many stupid laws no one knows how to use them. Letter of the law and intent of the law are two different things. Unfortunately there are too many officers who only look at the letter of the law. I hope the lady gets fired she deserves to be.
Typical entitled black woman
Oh no, AndyS is back. Ugh. Begone, bigot!
I admit, I’m getting quite old. I remember when it was considered perfectly polite and acceptable to gently tap someone on their shoulder to get their attention. It was a normal part of human social interaction. I do know a few years ago that it suddenly, or it seemed to me sudden, became completely unacceptable to ever touch anyone else in any way in any circumstances whatsoever. What I don’t know is when did this change happen? Who changed it? Why was it changed? Does everyone know that it changed?
Now this situation seems out of control enough that touching, in any way, in any decade, was probably best avoided. But in normal interactions when and by whom was the touching thing banished?
Agreed.
non whites actually believe only whites are racist
bad dog.. bad.. dogg…
I often ponder on public transportation these very issues, but usually in the opposite direction: I fear that if I were to say something on the metro to someone whose not of my ethnicity blasting their videos on speakerphone, I’d get assaulted and NOT a mere tap on the shoulder.
It’s a pet peeve of mine that the Apple executive considered it a “feature” to remove the most useful feature of a phone, the ability to easily and cheaply use a headset, to save a little money on their end and make the phone “cooler”. I hear arguments that “smartphones are expensive so you should be able to afford a bluetooth headset” but that’s so short sighted in that 4 year old smartphones can be had on the cheap or even given away by government funded programs.
But yeah, while I respect a fellow Karen, sometimes you just gotta let the malefactors go. I hope he realizes he made a mistake and goes on with his life.
I just read the update. Wow! That was fast. I did some copilot research and they said that juries often are unwilling to convict when intent is minor and also if the victim is unsympathetic. After all, she was being obnoxious as well.
I’ve sat on a jury about 5 years ago where the prosecution clearly pursued a case that had little chance of conviction: The defendant was irate and had gotten in a fist fight over road rage, but it was clear the victim also was going at it. There was no way to determine he-said/she-said but it was clear the prosecution didn’t like the guy so he was effectively punished by probably forking over at least 10 grand or more for an attorney to make the appearance.
I’m going to my public defender friend about whether prosecutors are ever ashamed about losing cases that were clearly unwinnable and if this reflects badly upon them.
I can tell you from experience that, oftentimes, the prosecutor you see trying the case isn’t the one who filed the charges.
I knew 45 years ago when women started making a big deal about getting a friendly pinch on the buttocks in the office that it would lead to this. Man I miss the good old days.
Good. I forsee the day when some idiots are blocking my passage, don’t respond to a “pardon me,” I gently try to slip by, slightly touching them in a nonsexual way, and they call the police on me.
Upon reflection, I think the law may make sense. The key is unwanted touching. Obviously, that of a serial nature is otherwise covered. But, imagine some jerk who is continually poking you in the check (you know the move) trying to start a fight. Yes, I like they can get arrested for this. But, the key here is that it gives the discretion first to the LEO. Someone trying to get you arrested on a “technicality” (an innocent tap on the shoulder) should fail. There are a fair humber of laws that work this way (e.g., curfew laws).
Agree.
I think the law is fine as written, and it’s exceedingly rare to have a case where the only thing that occurred is a simple tap on the shoulder (in a vacuum). I’d venture to say this “battery” wouldn’t have been an arrest had the defendant not ALSO allegedly followed the other person through the airport terminal while threatening to get her fired. The Cayman Air FA was probably more distraught about the protracted and hostile (her perception) engagement with the United FA than the “touch” itself. So the real lesson is don’t touch a person within the context of a less than friendly interaction.
Discretion usually makes the FL battery statute work out just fine, and some would say that an arrest, dropped case, and payment of attorney fees is a just outcome here for one being overzealous in enforcement of generally accepted rules of decorum.
I live in Florida, the law is fine as-is. Touching someone to the extent necessary in a positive, friendly interaction has minimal risk of being considered battery; a pax forgets his cellphone on the seat during deplaning, and you tap them gently to redirect their attention, you’re fine. I don’t touch the opposite gender for any reason both for religious values of modesty, and doubly because Karens will weaponize that into a court case and social media storm, with little recourse. If the conversation becomes in any way confrontational, hostile, or aggressive, keep your hands to yourself at all times. Period. Loudmouth Cayman FA on speakerphone in a foreign language is a cretin, and her phone should melt. United FA had the right intention, poor execution.