NEW YORK (1010 WINS) -- An unidentified NFL player is suing United Airlines, claiming that it did not respond adequately during a Los Angles-to-Newark flight in February, during which he alleges he was sexually assaulted and harassed by a woman, according to Bleacher Report's Master Tesfatsion and TMZ Sports.
According to the lawsuit, filed in Los Angeles, the player was on the red-eye flight wearing a mask, when a female passenger made "multiple unwanted sexual advances" towards him and asked why he was wearing it. After telling her he was wearing it for protection from coronavirus, she said he looked "frightening."
She at one point ripped off the player's mask and grabbed his genitals, according to the lawsuit.
United has not yet commented.
It took a fourth complaint by the player to get flight attendants to move the female.
The player claims the female was intoxicated and taking prescription pills at the time of the incident.
The player is identified as "John Doe 1" with another man from his row on the flight, "John Doe 2," making similar claims. Both men are described as African American. The woman is a "middle-aged Caucasian female."
In a statement from the player's attorneys, Darren Darwish and Benji Azizian, they said he instances "could have been prevented, if not harm reduced" had United taken quicker action. The goal of the lawsuit is to "shine a light on how assaults can, and are, being made on men, and not just women."
