Delta Sued For $10M Over Masturbating Passenger
DETROIT (the Patch) — A Metro Detroit woman who said Delta Air Lines looked the other way and didn't adequately protect her from a masturbating passenger has sued the airline for $10 million, according to documents filed Friday in Wayne County Circuit Court in Detroit. The offending passenger has already been convicted of simple assault (inappropriate touching) and indecent exposure involving two separate incidents aboard the nightmare July 2016 flight from Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, to Detroit.
Shortly after takeoff, a flight attendant observed the passenger, Christopher Finkley, 41, seated in the first-class cabin with his penis exposed as he masturbated, according to the lawsuit filed by plaintiff Rhonda Costigan, of Garden City. The flight attendant notified the captain, who in turn notified the Detroit Metro Airport police.
But over the course of the rest of the flight, the airline's employees "allowed the sexual deviant passenger to roam the plane without supervision." He used the restroom at the back of the plane near the end of the flight, then sat in an empty row seat next to Costigan. According to the lawsuit, he began to rub the bare skin of Costigan's upper thigh, told her he "liked white women" and inquired "where's your man?" (For more local news, click here to sign up for real-time news alerts and newsletters from Detroit Patch, click here to find your local Michigan Patch. Also, like us on Facebook, and if you have an iPhone, click here to get the free Patch iPhone app.)
Costigan said in the petition that she repeatedly asked him to stop touching her, and that he eventually slipped his hand under her shorts. Seated in the window seat, she had no opportunity to flee. As the pilot prepared to land the plane, Finkley returned to his seat in the first-class cabin and was again observed fondling his exposed penis, the lawsuit said.
According to court documents related to the criminal charges against him, Finkley told FBI agents it's typical for him to sit with his hands in his pants and massage his penis, which he referred to as "his happy place." He said it wasn't his intent for anyone to see his genitalia, but admitted it was possible flight attendants might have, according to the sentencing memorandum filed with the court.
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