Southwest Airlines sued after woman offered 14-year-old boy sex and drugs

A father in the US has filed a lawsuit against Southwest Airlines, claiming his 14-year-old son was "aggressively" pursued by an older woman who offered the boy sex and drugs during a flight. The man, from Chicago, alleges his son was forced to sit next to the woman on the flight from Chicago to Orlando in 2008.

The boys is said to have repeatedly got up to avoid her but was told to sit down again by staff. The suit, filed in Cook County Circuit Court, claims the airline was negligent because flight attendants failed to protect the boy, who was left so shaken he refused to take a return flight home alone.



“My client was a 14-year-old little boy when he was aggressively, sexually pursued by an older passenger who offered him drugs, who wanted sex from him,” Chicago attorney Jeffrey S. Deutschman said. “He went to the bathroom four times, he asked to move and he was told to take his seat."

The personal injury lawsuit, in which the family is seeking at least $US50,000, claims the woman "was obviously intoxicated and/or under the influence of other drugs.” A spokesman for Southwest Airlines declined comment.