Fort Lauderdale, Fla. is located in the state of Florida A Southwest Airlines pilot is suing the company, her union and a former colleague who pleaded guilty to stripping naked in front of her.
Christine Janning claims that Southwest retaliated against her after she reported Michael Haak to the company and the FBI, that it kept him employed despite an alleged history of sexual harassment, and that managers were hostile towards her.
She claims that the Southwest Airlines Pilots Association refused to support her. She is accusing him of sexually assault. He pleaded guilty to a federal charge of committing a lewd, indecent or obscene act and was sentenced to two years of supervised release.
Michael Salnick said that his client disrobed only after Janning encouraged him to. Southwest supports Janning and will fight the lawsuit. The union didn't reply to the call.
The AP doesn't normally identify people who say they are victims of sex crimes, but Janning agreed to the use of her name.
Janning had never met Haak before August 2020, when she was his co-pilot, according to the lawsuit. She said that Haak had used his seniority rights the previous day to replace another pilot who had been scheduled to take over the flight. The scheduled co-pilot was a woman, according to Janning.
It was a pilot's version of "don't make me stop this plane" when he threatened to delay the flight. The pilot told them to stop sending nude pictures.
Janning said that when they reached cruising altitude, Haak said he wanted to do something before he retired.
She said he bolted the door to prevent a flight attendant from entering. He put the plane on autopilot, stripped off his clothes and committed a lewd act while taking photos and videos of himself.
Janning asked Haak if he wanted to do something before he retired. She told him to go ahead and have sex after he stripped. He said that Haak denied a lewd act took place.
At his sentencing hearing last year, he said the incident was a consensual prank.
Frank Podesta, Janning's attorney, said she didn't make any advances.
Janning said in the lawsuit that she was horrified, but she kept flying the plane while taking pictures. The plane made a safe landing.
He flew for another three weeks.
Janning didn't report the incident until three months later. She said she waited because her boss had made fun of her. She told the investigator not to tell her boss.
The airline's investigation was closed because of Haak's retirement. Janning went to the FBI to face charges. She claims that Southwest sent Haak to a sexual harassment counseling center after the flight attendant incident.
As a result of the FBI report, Janning was grounded for more than three months. She had to take flight simulation training to be able to work again.
The FBI had to book a United Airlines flight for her so she could return to Florida after she was grounded. She said that a Southwest manager made baseless allegations about her flying competency.
Southwest cooperated with the agencies investigating Janning's allegations.
The events alleged in this situation are inconsistent with the behavior that we require of our employees.
She said that the union's leaders did nothing to help her when she contacted them, but they did write a letter to the judge saying he had a "spotless" record.
There are no hearings planned.
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