United Airlines settles lawsuit over hidden porn found on flights
United Airlines settled a federal sexual harassment lawsuit filed by a former pilot, Capt. Lisa Stout, who grounded herself after repeatedly finding pornography hidden in the cockpits of domestic airline flights. According to the lawsuit Stout found pornographic photos of women on more than 20 flights in 2004 and 2005 and that United's efforts to catch the perpetrators were inadequate and the company retaliated against her after she reported it.
The photos were mostly found in hidden spots, such as under a cap on a safety device known as a "stick shaker," or taped to the lid of the unused ashtray. Stout logged each instance in the flight log and had maintenance workers take the photos down. The photos created a hostile work environment for Stout.
United argued that Stout could not have been offended by the sexually explicit photos because she once worked in a retail store that sold pornographic magazines, she sometimes sketched nudes as an artist and she had attended art shows displaying photos of nude women. United also argued that Stout was motivated to claim a mental condition so she could get long-term disability payments to support her art career.
Judge Coughenour ruled in November that it would be "highly unlikely" that a jury wouldn't find that the pornography made for a hostile work environment — one of the findings necessary to prove a claim of sexual harassment.
Details of the settlement confidential. Before the settlement, Judge Coughenour had ruled that United's efforts to dismiss the case were "unpersuasive," and determined that Stout would be allowed to seek punitive damages against the airline if the suit went to trial according to the Seattle Times.
