American Airlines fires legal team for ‘blaming’ 9-year-old girl recorded in bathroom

American Airlines has dismissed its legal team following controversial statements that a young girl was negligent after being recorded in the bathroom by a flight attendant.

This decision comes a week after the airline faced backlash over a May 21 court filing, which stated that a 9-year-old girl was recorded through her “own fault and negligence” while using the bathroom.

The airline quickly distanced itself from the statement, clarifying that “outside legal counsel, retained with our insurance company, made an error in this filing.”

American Airlines has now replaced the previous legal team with Kelly Hart & Hallman, a Texas-based firm. “We do not believe this child is to blame, and we take the allegations against a former employee very seriously,” the airline stated. “Our primary mission is to care for people, with the safety and security of our customers and team members at the core of that commitment.”

Here’s the background:

Former American Airlines Employee Charged with Recording Minors

The U.S. District Attorney’s Office for the State of Massachusetts has charged former American Airlines flight attendant Estes Thompson with secretly recording four girls − ages 7, 9, 11, and 14 − using the bathroom during flights. He faces charges of secretly recording the girls, the attempted sexual exploitation of children, and possessing images of child sexual abuse.

Messages to Thompson’s lawyers were not immediately returned Wednesday night.

Over 50 photographs of the 9-year-old girl were found on Thompson’s iCloud account, including images of her seated pre-flight and close-ups of her face while she slept, according to the district attorney’s office.

The girl, whom American Airlines had initially referred to as negligent in court records, is suing the airline.

Girls’ Lawyer ‘Not Surprised’ by Legal Team Change

Paul Llewellyn, an attorney representing the 9-year-old and another girl in the case, stated that American Airlines’ decision to change attorneys was a direct response to the “intense media and public backlash surrounding the outrageous allegation.”

“With new legal representation, we hope that American Airlines will now take a fresh look at the case and accept some responsibility for what happened to our client,” Llewellyn said in a statement.

Llewellyn expressed confidence that a Texas jury would hold American Airlines accountable. “I was both shocked and outraged,” he told. “As a lawyer, I understand the need to assert possible defenses, but I cannot fathom a scenario where it would be appropriate to blame a 9-year-old for being filmed in an airplane bathroom.”