A flight attendant is suing US carrier Southwest Airlines, claiming that management tried to silence and intimidate her after she reported the inappropriate conduct of two pilots on a flight.
According to reports from CNN, Renee Steinaker was working on a February 2017 flight to Phoenix when she was called to the cockpit so the captain could leave and use the restroom.
She claims that while she was present, she spotted an iPad that appeared to be live streaming video from inside one of the aircraft’s toilets, and asked the co-pilot why it was there.
She was allegedly told the iPad was a “new and top secret security measure” installed in the bathrooms of Southwest Airlines’ 737-800 planes, and asked to keep this information on the “downlow”.
Steinaker claims she took a photo of the iPad’s display and showed it to other crew members on the flight, although the alleged image does not appear to have been shared any more widely.
According to her suit, when she reported the incident to management, she was told to keep quiet, and was then subjected to intimidation, including multiple drug tests in a short space of time.
Her husband, also a flight attendant, claims that he was subjected to “at least five” performance audits within several months, having only been audited three times previously in 24 years of service.
Per CNN News reports, captain Terry Graham and co-pilot Ryan Russell have admitted that there was an iPad in the plane’s cabin and that Steinaker asked if it was live streaming from a bathroom.
In a written response to the lawsuit, the pair denied the other allegations against them, or alternatively stated that they did not have sufficient knowledge to respond.
In response to the lawsuit, Southwest Airlines has denied that the pilot and co-pilot:
“… intentionally invaded the privacy of Plaintiff Renee Steinaker on Southwest Airlines flight 1088 by installing, viewing, watching, recording and/or playing recordings of plaintiff while she was using the forward lavatory’s toilet.”
The airline maintains that the safety of customers and staff is its top priority, and said that it does not place cameras in plane lavatories.
It has not commented further on the lawsuit, or on Steinaker’s allegation that she and her husband were intimated after coming forward.
