United Airlines Sued for Accusing Gay Father of Inappropriately Touching Son (Video)

‘What They Did Was Damage a Family’

United Airlines is back in the news—this time, for accusing a gay father comforting his son of touching him inappropriately.

Henry Amador-Batten, who was flying with his son to his home in North Carolina on May 20th, said that flight attendants told police they “observed a male passenger with his hands resting ‘near the gentials’ of a boy,” CNN reported.

When the flight landed, Amador-Batten was pulled aside by police and questioned on the matter in front of his son. He advised officers that his young son was afraid of flying, and according to the police report, that he had his hand on the boy’s lap “to help him feel secure and go to sleep.” 

Amador-Batten was compliant and calm with police, the report read, and the complaint was closed within 45 minutes—but the ramifications of the event will last much longer.

“I don’t know if [the flight attendant] even realizes what an accusation like that does,” the father said to his local CBS affiliate. “The crew might have thought that they have saved a child, but what they did was damage a family.” Watch below:

The Amador-Batten family has filed a lawsuit against United, who apologized in a statement to CNN. “In this instance, the crew believed it was appropriate to ask authorities to meet the plane and interview the customer,” the airline’s statement read.

“After speaking with the customer, authorities determined that no further action was necessary. Our customers should always be treated with the utmost respect and we have followed up with our customer to apologize for the misunderstanding.”

In a post on Facebook community DADsquared, of which Henry Amador-Batten’s husband is an administrator, Joel Amador-Batten said their family is “sharing [our] story in an effort that no one else feels like they can make these sorts of despicable allegations without regard for the potentially far-reaching legal ramifications of being accused of something so heinous as impropriety with one’s own child.” 

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