LOS ANGELES - Defendants recently moved an 18-month-old lawsuit from an anonymous Los Angeles woman who says she was groped on a plane to federal court.
The suit, filed originally in 2019, will now be possibly be tried in Los Angeles federal court as a result of the March 23 removal by the owners of Copa Airlines. The plaintiff sued after she was allegedly groped and harassed by a passenger next to her on a flight.
The plaintiff was flying on Copa Airlines, owned by Compania Penamena De Aviacion and Copa Holdings, from Los Angeles to Panama City on October 11, 2017. According to the lawsuit, defendant Amir Mirghaffari was the passenger next to her, and was medicated and extremely agitated.
The woman says that Mirghaffari repeatedly touched and groped the body parts that he could reach on her, including her arm, side, shoulder, leg, thigh and feet. Mirghaffari is accused of attempting to masturbate under his seat tray while fondling the defendant. The airline staff allegedly ignored the woman's complaints about the other passenger and refused to accommodate her request for another seat.
The plaintiff was detained in Panama for nearly a month after the incident for interrogation of the alleged assault. She discovered that Mirghaffari was wanted back in the U.S. for other crimes and was not permitted to enter Panama, the suit says.
The defendants are charged with sexual battery, gender violence, battery, assault, intentional infliction of emotional distress, violation of the Ralphs Civil Right Act and negligence. The plaintiff is represented by Lieber and Galperin LLP.