It appears that Betty Pina has flown helos for the Army and Coast Guard and as a production test pilot for Boeing. She was a DHC-8 Q400 first officer at Horizon and was apparently on first year probation as a 737 first officer at Alaska when the incident in MSP allegedly occurred. She was hired at Alaska in November 2016 according to an online profile that she posted.
The lawsuit filed yesterday states the alleged rape in her narrative as though it is an established fact.
From the filed Complaint for Damages: Workplace Rape:
This lawsuit against Alaska Airlines arises form [sic] the workplace drugging and raping of Ms. Pina by another Alaska Airlines employee, Paul Engelien.
Mr. Englien is a senior pilot. Mr. Engelien drugged and raped Ms. Pina during an overnight stay in Minneapolis on a flight from Anchorage to Seattle to Minneapolis.
The entire event was investigated by Alaska Airlines, and reflected in the referenced investigation summary compiled by Marcella Fleming Reed, J.D.
The tie-in to the #MeToo movement is in this paragraph:
Mr. Engelien’s actions, as the supervising officer on the flight, constitute violations of Washington Laws Against Discrimination, sexual assault, and negligence. Given Mr. Engelien’s position of authority on the flight and within the company, Alaska Airlines is liable for the violations stated herein. Mr. Engelien’s grossly abusive actions epitomize the necessity and purpose of the #metoo movement. Further, the actions on the part of Alaska Airlines after the incident could be construed as unlawfully retaliatory.
Some questions seem to arise.
If the company investigation found that the rape occurred, why was the accuser given six months off the line? Was it paid medical leave? Did she request it?
Was the captain grounded since the reported incident? Or was he taken off the line yesterday when the media started calling?
Was the alleged victim afraid to go public with the story until she was off probation and suddenly empowered by the groundswell of the #MeToo movement?
The captain appears to possibly be a military veteran from the Air Force but I can't find much online about him except his Twitter picture with a drink (it may be coffee) in his hand.