American Airlines Walks Back Claim That 9-Year-Old 'Should Have Known' Plane Toilet Had Camera

American Airlines has condemned a filing from its legal team that suggested a 9-year-old girl, who was allegedly filmed using an in-flight lavatory by a flight attendant, was at fault for what happened to her.

In a Monday legal filing, which came in response to a civil lawsuit from the 9-year-old’s family, attorneys argued the child “knew or should have known” about the “visible and illuminated recording device” in the bathroom.

After backlash from the public and the girl’s family, American Airlines said that “outside legal counsel retained with our insurance company” had made an “error” in the filing.

“The included defense is not representative of our airline and we have directed it be amended this morning,” an airline spokesperson told HuffPost in an email. “We do not believe this child is at fault and we take the allegations involving a former team member very seriously.”

The attorneys who authored the defense filing have not responded to a request for comment from HuffPost.

The child, identified in the suit as “Mary Doe,” was onboard a flight with her parents to Los Angeles in January 2023 when flight attendant Estes Carter Thompson III allegedly hid a camera inside the plane’s lavatory, according to a legal filing obtained by HuffPost.

The suit, filed in February, said the 9-year-old met Thompson when she got up to use the lavatory on the flight. Thompson allegedly told the girl he needed to “clean up a mess” before she went in.

The girl used the lavatory after he left, and returned to her seat without knowing she had been recorded, according to the lawsuit. The family found out what happened when federal authorities informed them images and videos of Doe had been discovered on Thompson’s iCloud account, the