Woman sues Delta Airlines after being groped by self-pleasuring man

Sues for $10 million saying airline is liable for allowing sexually deviant passenger to roam freely on flight

A woman has filed a $10 million lawsuit against Delta Airlines after claiming that a man sexually assaulted her when he was caught pleasuring himself on a flight, according to Michigan Live.

Rhonda Costigan, a waitress living in Michigan, was flying home to South Carolina with her 15-year-old daughter following a cheerleader competition on July 27 last year when the incident took place.

She holds the airline liable for letting the "sexual deviant passenger to freely roam the plane" after he was caught exposing himself earlier in the flight.

Christopher Finkley, a long-haul trucker from South Carolina, sat down next to Costigan and began to grope her thigh while stating, he "liked white women," according to the lawsuit.



Costigan's attorney, Gerald Acker, said it is believed he was intoxicated and had been served alcohol on the flight.

Finkley continued to rub Costigan's leg and put his hands up her shorts despite her repeated requests for him to stop, the lawsuit says.

"I was trapped and unable to flee," Costigan said at a press conference Tuesday. "And with my daughter and her friends in the row behind me, I was frozen in terror. Delta Airlines flight staff "could have stopped this, but instead chose not to."