‘ASSAULT IS ASSAULT’

NFL Player Sues United Airlines Over Alleged Sexual Assault by Woman

The unnamed NFL player accuses the airline of failing to properly respond after a woman made “multiple unwanted sexual advances” during a recent flight.

An NFL player has filed a lawsuit against United Airlines, claiming that he and another individual were sexually assaulted and harassed multiple times by a woman on a recent flight. The lawsuit accuses United Airlines of failing to properly respond to the incident during the flight from Los Angeles to Newark, New Jersey, on Feb. 10 and failing to cooperate with authorities. The NFL player, who chose to remain anonymous, says the woman made “multiple unwanted sexual advances” including grabbing his genitals and ripping off his protective face mask, saying that he looked “frightening” while wearing it.

The player filed the lawsuit with another man who made similar accusations, both of whom are described as black males. They allege that the woman—described as a middle-aged white female—was intoxicated and was taking prescription pills. “Our goal is to shine a light on how assaults can, and are, being made on men, and not just women,” wrote lawyers for the plaintiffs, Darren Darwish and Benji Azizian, in a statement. “This is significant because assault is assault, regardless of the gender, or race, and physical attributes of the victim.”