A Sonoma County woman is suing American Airlines, claiming staff blamed her after she was groped on a redeye flight from San Francisco International Airport, and that the airline failed to stop a “known sexual predator” from abusing another woman later.

Barbara Morgan of Windsor was sitting in the middle seat in economy class in April 2024 on a flight to Dallas-Fort Worth, according to her lawsuit, which was filed Thursday in federal court in San Francisco.

Shortly after the lights in the cabin dimmed, the man next to her in the window seat started rubbing his arm against her side in what she believed was an attempt to touch her breasts, her lawsuit alleges. She shifted away, but the man was “undeterred,” and put his hand on her upper thigh then her genitals, the suit says.

Morgan yelled, “Stop!” twice, but no airline staff responded, the lawsuit said. Most other passengers were sleeping or wearing headphones, and no one appeared to have noticed her plight, the lawsuit said.

Flight crew members did not pass by, and she feared “escalating the situation” by reporting the alleged incident, the lawsuit said. She feared retaliation from the man, and “endured severe emotional distress for the remainder of the flight, trapped beside her assailant as she waited for the plane to land,” the lawsuit claimed.

Upon arrival, Morgan immediately went to an American Airlines gate agent to report the alleged abuse and pointed out the purported groper, Cherian Abraham, who is also named as a defendant in the lawsuit.

Abraham could not be reached for comment. His lawyer in a criminal case related to a separate alleged airplane incident declined to comment on the lawsuit or the criminal indictment. American Airlines did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The gate agent “engaged in victim blaming,” asking Morgan why she had not taken further action to report the alleged incident during the flight. Morgan explained her concerns, but the agent “told her there was nothing they could do,” did not contact law enforcement, and told her to file an online complaint with the airline.

Her complaint the next day drew an automated response promising follow-up, but after she heard nothing for five days, she sent a detailed account of the alleged assault to three American Airlines officials, including Robert Isom, the chief executive officer, the lawsuit said.

Three days later, she received another automated response from the airline, and the following day, she emailed the airline’s customer relations department to complain about the lack of appropriate response, and to warn that Abraham “would continue to abuse girls, women and others if American Airlines failed to take action,” the lawsuit claimed.

She received an email from American’s customer relations department, telling her the airline’s corporate security had been asked to look into the matter and would be in touch, the lawsuit said. But when someone called, they again attempted to shift blame to her for not reporting the alleged assault while still in the air, the lawsuit alleged.