A California woman is suing American Airlines, alleging she was sexually assaulted by a fellow passenger on an overnight flight — and that the airline knowingly allowed the passenger, a previously reported offender, to fly again.

What we know:

Barbara Morgan, represented by the Chicago-based law firm Romanucci & Blandin, filed a lawsuit earlier this month in federal court claiming she was sexually assaulted on an American Airlines flight from San Francisco to Dallas on April 24, 2024.

According to the complaint, Morgan was seated in a middle seat next to Cherian Abraham, a Texas man with a history of reported in-flight assaults.

During the flight, Morgan says Abraham touched her inappropriately multiple times in the darkened cabin. She yelled at him to stop, but says the flight crew did not intervene.

When she reported the incident after landing, Morgan says a gate agent asked why she hadn’t spoken up during the flight and told her to file a complaint online.

Despite multiple follow-ups — including emails to top American Airlines executives — Morgan says she received only a generic response and that when she was finally contacted by someone from American, they blamed her for not reporting the conduct while in-flight.

In March 2025, the U.S. Attorney’s Office charged Abraham with sexually assaulting another passenger on an American Airlines flight. That complaint cited earlier incidents, including Morgan’s.

What’s next:

Morgan’s attorneys are seeking a jury trial in U.S. District Court in Northern California. The lawsuit brings several claims against both American Airlines and Abraham, including negligence, fraudulent concealment, and gender violence.

The legal team says this case is about more than one incident — it’s about accountability and how airlines respond to reports of in-flight sexual assault.

“American Airlines has been aware for years that sexual assaults on overnight flights are becoming more and more prevalent,” said Sarah M. Raisch, a senior attorney with Romanucci & Blandin.

“Yet they allowed Cherian Abraham to become a serial predator under their watch and on their airplanes, and when our brave client reported her terrifying experience, they brushed her off and blamed her for their utter indifference to her safety. When will corporations finally believe women? What needs to happen for corporations to finally take women’s safety seriously?”

Morgan says her decision to speak out is rooted in a desire to protect other passengers.

“It is hard to describe how traumatizing it is to have a stranger touch you like that – on a crowded plane, in a confined space, with nowhere to go. I felt exposed and yet completely invisible.

I felt paralyzed. When the flight landed and I reported what happened, I hoped American Airlines would step in and, at the very least, tell me they would do better to protect other women. Instead, I was met with cold responses and blame, as if I had done something wrong.

That sense of shame has stayed with me. I’m sharing my story because I don’t want other women to feel as alone or dismissed as I did. I’m sharing my story because it is time that corporations do better so my daughter, our daughters don’t have to be assaulted.”