Entrepreneur sues airline as crew allegedly downplayed her concerns about a man allegedly masturbating beside her
A woman entrepreneur is suing American Airlines after a flight attendant allegedly downplayed her concerns about a man sitting next to her who was allegedly masturbating in their first-class flight to Milan.
PEOPLE Magazine reported that Neel Elsherif—chief executive officer of multiple companies—in her March 21 complaint before the U.S. District Court's Eastern District of New York, accused American Airlines of negligence, discrimination, and intentional infliction of emotional distress.
Elsherif said she "suffered a disturbing and traumatic experience" during her flight from John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York City to Milan in May 2024.
According to her, an "intoxicated, caucasian male passenger seated next to her brazenly masturbated for approximately 60 minutes during the flight."
Elsherif recalled the man, referred to as John Doe, being served multiple glasses of champagne during the first hour of the flight. As she was preparing to sleep, she said she noticed him rubbing his pants soon after the lights dimmed.
"Before [she] fell asleep, she noticed John Doe was holding his groin and rubbing his genitals over his pants; when this rubbing did not stop, but instead intensified, [Elsherif] realized that John Doe was masturbating next to her," her complaint read. "Stunned, Plaintiff froze in her seat and began to panic; she felt extremely uncomfortable and helpless."
Elsherif tried to stare ahead and hoped for one of the flight attendants to intervene, but the alleged incident continued for an hour.
That's when she approached a flight attendant to report the alleged incident.
The flight attendant, however, allegedly implied to Elsherif that as a woman, she was "expected to endure such grotesque misconduct," reinforcing the "pernicious and unlawful stereotype that women must tolerate male predation as a fact of life."
She also accused the flight attendant of telling her that "men just do stuff like that," referring to masturbation, and that the flight attendant's husband did "stuff like that."
Elsherif said the flight attendant told her there was "'nothing really that she can do' except move her seat to a different set in coach."
The entrepreneur said she asked for the man's seat to be moved, noting she paid $3,000 (PhP172,000), but claimed that the flight attendant refused.
Elsherif's camp also said that the alleged poor treatment of her was racial, as she's of Arab and Middle Eastern descent, vis-a-vis the flight attendant and the man who are both white.
"The flight attendant gave John Doe preferential treatment over [her], and treated John Doe's safety, comfort, and convenience more importantly than [hers], because John Doe is a white male," Elsherif's lawyers said.
Elsherif reported the incident to the gate staff at both Milan Malpensa Airport and back in New York City and was reportedly told to "call the 1-800 number."
American Airlines, meanwhile, told PEOPLE that it's reviewing the allegations in her complaint.
"American strives to provide a positive experience to everyone who travels with us," it said.
