Woman Set to Sue Delta Air Lines Over Masturbating Passenger

Christopher Finkley was sentenced to jail for one week after pleading guilty to one count of “simple assault, inappropriate touching”

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A Michigan woman plans to sue Delta Air Lines after having been groped on a flight last July.

The unnamed woman was reportedly aboard a flight from Myrtle Beach, South Carolina to Detroit when a first class passenger sat next to her and rubbed her leg after exposing himself to flight attendants. According to CBS Detroit, Christopher Finkley, 41, was convicted last month of assault and indecent exposure. WJBK reports that he was sentenced to seven days in jail and one year probation.

The victim is now readying a lawsuit against the airline, claiming employees did not do enough to restrain the man after he was caught masturbating in his seat.

“What they should’ve done, after they found out he’s masturbating and exposing himself in first class and the stewardess went to the cabin and told the pilot, who radioed ahead to call the police,” the woman’s attorney Jerry Acker told WJBK. “They should’ve taken the flight attendants and monitored that man and not allowed that predator to run through the cabin.”

The Sentencing Memorandum filed on Saturday claims that Finkley said “that he likes to sit with his hands in his pants and massage his penis, and called this ‘his happy place.’” He went on to state that “he did not mean for the flight attendants to see his penis but that it is possible that they did.”

Acker said he is working with Delta to “resolve” the situation, but is ready to file a lawsuit if no agreement is reached.

The news comes as Delta’s competitor United has reached an “amicable” settlement with the passenger who sustained multiple injuries during a highly publicized forcible removal earlier this month. The settlement came shortly after United announced 10 changes to improve customer experiences, including offering passengers up to $10,000 for giving up their seats on overbooked flights.

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