Passenger sues airline after claiming drunk employee groped and kissed her on flight

‘When you’re on a plane, you can’t just run away and get away from a bad situation, you’re basically a hostage on that flight,’ says attorney

The incident occurred on a Delta flight (Getty Images)

A woman is suing Delta Air Lines after claiming that she was groped and kissed by an off-duty member of staff during a flight.

In a lawsuit filed to Minnesota District Court, it is alleged that flight attendants continued to serve alcohol to their colleague despite the passenger expressing concerned about “the level of intoxication”.

The filing includes allegations from Alison Petri that she was “kissed on the mouth” and “rubbed” on her buttocks by the person sitting next to her, who was allegedly travelling with a crew bag and drinking heavily during the three-hour flight from Las Vegas to Minneapolis, reports KMSP-TV.

According to the lawsuit, Ms Petri walked to the back of the plane after being kissed to inform a flight attendant about what had happened, but she claims cabin crew continued to serve wine to the passenger at the centre of the row.

“When you’re on a plane, you can’t just run away and get away from a bad situation, you’re basically a hostage on that flight," said Minneapolis attorney Jeff Storms, who is representing Ms Petri. “Either colleagues or friends were serving her, and instead of cutting her off, it was ‘don’t worry we’ll keep the party going, don’t worry, we’ll take care of you’.”

Ms Petri said she reported the incident to staff on the gate and at the airport in Minneapolis, asking them to contact police. Last summer, the disruptive passenger was convicted of a disorderly conduct in connection with the case and sentenced to one year of unsupervised monitoring.

A further allegation in the lawsuit is that flight attendants repeatedly contacted the intoxicated passenger to warn her about the reports, with Mr Storm claiming Delta staff “conspired with one another”.

The Independent has contacted Delta for comment.

A spokesperson for the airline told Insider that “the alleged assailant at the time was an employee of a Delta subsidiary but not directly employed by Delta.”

They added: “While we don’t have any specific comment on this pending litigation, Delta does not tolerate inappropriate or unlawful behaviour.

“Nothing is more important than the safety of our customers and our people.”