On Friday, Delta Air Lines—one of the world’s largest airlines—was sued in federal court. The Brewers, a North Carolina family whose lost iPad was later used to record explicit videos, are suing American Airlines. The lawsuit, filed in reaction to the incident, charged Delta with negligence, intentional infliction of emotional distress, and harassment. The undisputed facts of the case give grave legitimacy to an airline’s treatment of employees handling lost property and issues surrounding the security of personal data.
The whole mess started after the Brewers’ iPad flew the coop on a Delta flight. The device, which was encased in a cover featuring the children’s cartoon character Peppa Pig, was later tracked to New York City using Apple’s Find My app. Despite the family’s efforts to retrieve the iPad, Delta did not initially acknowledge their first report of the lost device.
Instead, the airline emailed an assumedly generic response about how they’re searching for the iPad. The Brewers do not think that this is an adequate response given the extraordinary circumstances. The family’s attorney, Tola Familoni, said that they wanted Delta to own up to what they did in this situation.
“We would have hoped, if not publicly, at least personally they would have acknowledged their role and responsibility for what happened to this family.” – Tola Familoni
This is where things got a bit rough — someone got into the iPad. This unauthorized access led to dissemination of sexually explicit content. The forth-right videos made clear a Delta uniformed man—name badge, et al—was courting sex in public. Delta seems to have gotten that memo. Moreover, the individual in question is not a Delta employee at all – they actually work for a vendor company under contract to Delta. The airline has not made public information identifying the vendor in question.
The Brewers allege that Delta’s negligence led to this serious breach of privacy. They further claim that as a result of their actions, the family was caused severe emotional distress. Their lawsuit aims to take Delta to task for what it did. They would like to ensure these types of tragedies do not continue to occur in the years to come.
In response, Delta has doubled down on their commitment to a zero-tolerance policy towards this unlawful behavior. In light of the ongoing litigation, the airline declined to provide additional comment.
“We have zero tolerance for unlawful behavior of any kind but will decline to comment further on this pending litigation.” – Delta
Familoni expressed his discontent with Delta’s handling of the situation, pointing out that the airline’s failure to take responsibility has left the family feeling vulnerable.
“We want to stop anything like this happening to any other families.” – Tola Familoni
The Brewers’ case against Delta highlights broader issues regarding the responsibilities of airlines in safeguarding personal belongings and maintaining customer trust. As litigation progresses, many will be watching Delta’s answer to these claims with bated breath. Members of the public are asking what steps the airline is going to take to make sure something like this never happens again.