Someone was sexually attacked on a Delta Air Lines flight, so a woman has sued the company and a former worker.
On March 20, 2023, the woman, who was 24 years old, was driving home from a Taylor Swift show in Phoenix when she was hit by a car.
On March 5, the employee, Duane Brick, who no longer works for the company, pleaded guilty in federal court to one count of sex abuse. Brick, who was 52 years old at the time of the crime, could spend up to two years in jail if he is found guilty on June 10.
In a statement to PEOPLE, a Delta spokesperson said, “Delta will not comment on pending litigation. However, Delta will not tolerate any illegal behavior and will work with law enforcement to that end.”
A complaint made in King County, Wash. on March 28 by the woman’s lawyer, Mark Lindquist, says she took Xanax before the flight because she had a mild fear of flying. Brick sat in the middle seat next to her window seat. He said he worked for Delta and seemed to know some of the flight workers, which “put her at ease,” even though she smelled alcohol early in the flight.
The woman “was in and out of consciousness because of Xanax” and “woke up suddenly to Mr. Brick groping her breasts and body and placing her hand on his genitalia,” according to the complaint.
Brick said in his guilty plea that he “took the hand of the woman sitting next to him and placed it on his crotch.” Crack reached under the woman’s shirt and touched her breast. It looked like she was asleep.
