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Alaska Airlines FO Alleges Rape by Captain on MSP Layover
In the #Me Too era, yet another serious claim of past sexual assault surfaces in the news.
Alaska Airlines female co-pilot claims male pilot drugged and raped her By Janine Puhak | Fox News A Seattle-based pilot employed by Alaska Airlines has filed a lawsuit against the airline, claiming that her male aircraft captain drugged and raped her during a June 2017 work trip. Betty Pina, a former military helicopter pilot who flew combat missions in Afghanistan, told KIRO 7 that during an overnight stay in Minneapolis, the pilot spiked her wine with an unknown substance and she woke up in his bedroom. Pina said her attacker is still a pilot for Alaska Airlines and that she wants him fired. Co-pilot sues Alaska Airlines, says pilot drugged and raped her by KOMO StaffWednesday, March 14th 2018 SEATTLE - A co-pilot for Alaska Airlines is suing the company, saying it failed to take appropriate action after she reported she had been drugged and raped by an Alaska Airlines pilot during a layover last year. The co-pilot, Betty Pina, filed the lawsuit Tuesday in King County Superior Court under Washington state's anti-discrimination statute. The suit says that she was taken off active flight crew duties for an extended period after she reported the rape, but to the best of her knowledge the pilot was never removed from duty and is still employed by the company, where he "remains a threat to other employees." According to the lawsuit, Pina was serving as a co-pilot with the pilot in question for the first time last June. During a layover in Minneapolis, she says she blacked out after the pilot gave her wine at a hotel lounge. When she woke up, hours later, she was naked from the waist down in bed in the pilot's hotel room with him, and there was vomit on the blankets, the lawsuit says. She suit says she remained nauseous and in pain for hours afterward and realized that she had been drugged. When she confronted the pilot, he denied any sexual contact. After Pina reported the rape to Alaska Airlines, she was taken off active flight crew duties for several months and was only recently returned to full duty, according to the lawsuit. The pilot remained on full duty with the airline and was never charged with any crime. |
The police should have informed immediately so that evidence could be gathered such a drug test and DNA. A report would then be sent to the relevant authorities who would decide how to proceed.
Was the done or did she just complain to the airline ? |
Originally Posted by krismiler
(Post 10084555)
The police should have informed immediately so that evidence could be gathered such a drug test and DNA. A report would then be sent to the relevant authorities who would decide how to proceed.
Was the done or did she just complain to the airline ? Sounds bogus to me. |
Originally Posted by krismiler
(Post 10084555)
The police should have informed immediately so that evidence could be gathered such a drug test and DNA. A report would then be sent to the relevant authorities who would decide how to proceed.
Was the done or did she just complain to the airline ? |
Here is original Seattle Times story (as reprinted by the ADN News in ANC) which seems to be the basis for most of the follow-on stories in other media sources:
Co-pilot sues Alaska Airlines over alleged drugging, rape by flight captain during layover Author: Lewis Kamb, The Seattle Times Updated: 12 hours ago Published 14 hours ago It seemed like any other work stopover along Alaska Airlines' service route: After arriving in Minneapolis, the captain and his co-pilot, Betty Pina, vanpooled to the flight crew's designated hotel and met up later in the concierge room set up with snacks and drinks for airline employees. Afterward, there was supposed to be a short overnight stay, before the two piloted a return flight to Seattle the next morning. But things turned fuzzy for Pina before she made it back to her hotel room that evening, she said. It started with a glass of wine, Pina said, delivered to her by the captain — a veteran Alaska pilot she'd never met before they were teamed for the three-day assignment last June. Pina commented that her drink tasted funny, then after only a few sips, she couldn't keep her head up and felt the walls closing in. "From there, I don't remember leaving the concierge room, the elevator ride or walking down the hallway to my room," Pina recalled during a recent interview. "When I woke up, everything was hazy. I remember seeing a figure, somebody pulling at my right ankle, and rolling over and trying to say 'No.' And then, I was out again." The next time she came to, Pina said she found herself naked from the waist down in a bed wet with vomit. She said she also heard the captain, who was in the same room, admitting into a telephone that he'd been drinking to an unseen airline official. Now, Pina, 39, a Seattle-area resident and decorated Army chopper pilot who has been flying commercial flights for Alaska since 2016, is suing the airline. Her suit claims Alaska Airlines is liable for its captain's alleged drugging and raping of her that night, and for its subsequent failure to hold him accountable after she reported what happened to airline officials. "I'm infuriated that he's still working there," Pina said of the accused captain, who she said remains on Alaska's active seniority list for pilots. In a statement early Wednesday, Alaska Airlines' chief spokeswoman Bobbie Egan declined to comment about Pina's allegations, citing the matter as "an open and active investigation." "What we can say is that we are taking this matter seriously," Egan said. "The safety and well-being of our employees and guests is a top priority." The accused captain — a 50-year-old veteran pilot and married Nevada resident — did not respond to a phone message left for him Wednesday. Although he is named in Pina's lawsuit, The Seattle Times is not identifying him because he has not been charged with a crime. The Times generally does not name victims of alleged sexual assault, but Pina agreed to be identified. After word of Pina's lawsuit emerged early Wednesday, an airline official contacted her and requested that she voluntarily withdraw from a scheduled work flight, according to her attorneys, Eric Makus and Lincoln Beauregard. "Betty will fly as scheduled," said Makus, adding the official expressed a change in tone to Pina on Wednesday, offering "complete support" for her. That's not quite how the airline previously handled the matter, Pina and her lawyers said during an interview Tuesday. After recounting how she found her underwear inside her zipped-up purse in the captain's room that night, Pina said she regretted not immediately calling 911. "That's when I knew I'd been assaulted," she said. Instead, in the first foggy hours after the incident, Pina said she was racked by confusion and sickness — and the fear of losing a 17-year career in aviation that she'd dreamed about while growing up in Kansas. "I'm worried about everything I've ever worked for," she said. "I'm not married, I don't have kids. My career has been my number one." Pina said she's since learned that on the night of the incident, a flight attendant reported to the first officer on duty that he had observed the captain walking in a hotel hallway with two glasses of wine and a woman who appeared in danger. "The crew member didn't feel comfortable flying with (the captain) the next day, so called the (first officer on duty)," Pina said. That report triggered the duty officer's subsequent calls to the captain's room, asking about his fitness for duty, her lawsuit contends. After the captain acknowledged drinking, the duty officer scratched the captain and Pina from piloting the return flight to Seattle, she said. The two instead were put in coach seating on a later flight bound for Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, Pina said. Before and during the flight, Pina said the captain told her "that I'd been really drunk and had come on to him" the previous evening. She said he also tried to persuade her to "get our stories straight" to avoid putting their jobs at risk. Back in Seattle, representatives for the pilots' union and airline officials questioned both pilots, taking statements over the next two days, Pina said. Pina said she initially didn't feel comfortable reporting the rape, but changed her mind after returning home after the airline's interviews and finding "a handprint bruise" on her left thigh and other bruising. Pina first reported the allegations to her union representative the night of June 7, two days after the alleged assault, and a day later to an Alaska human-resources official. In early July, Pina said she detailed her allegations again to a lawyer, Marcella Reed, hired by the airline to investigate. The probe focused on whether the captain and Pina potentially violated the company's policy prohibiting pilots from consuming alcohol within 10 hours before a scheduled flight, she said. The airline had placed Pina on paid leave beginning in June, telling her not to talk about its investigation, she said. Meantime, Reed took various statements and purportedly informed Pina in August that a review of the hotel's security video showed the captain tried to forcibly kiss Pina in an elevator. "She said I was incapacitated, that it took 18 to 20 minutes to get from the elevator to the room, and this whole time he's trying to get me into the room, and I'm trying to put up whatever fight I can," Pina said. Finally in December, Pina said, Alaska's Seattle base chief informed her that she'd soon be allowed to return to the cockpit. He also asked her: "Betty, let me ask you this, why didn't you press charges," Pina recalled. "And until that moment, I thought telling my company and my supervisor is all I needed to do," Pina said. "I was shocked when he said that." Pina was returned to active duty in January. She fears she may be forced to fly with the captain again — despite the base chief's promises that she won't. She and her attorneys served the airlines with a legal complaint detailing her allegations in mid-February, largely relying on official summaries of Pina's formal statements to investigators. The airlines didn't take any corrective action, the lawyers said, so they formally filed suit on Wednesday in King County Superior Court. "My hope is that by me doing this, it may protect other women," Pina said. "How many other victims are out there? I may not be the first case, but I hope to be the last. It's time to take responsibility. The culture needs to change. We can't sweep this under the rug any longer." Pina said she's open to pursuing a criminal case against the captain. "I wanted to get back in the cockpit flying before moving forward with anything," she said. "Now that I have, I am." |
Originally Posted by Airbubba
(Post 10084756)
Here is original Seattle Times story (as reprinted by the ADN News in ANC) which seems to be the basis for most of the follow-on stories in other media sources:
https://www.adn.com/nation-world/201...uring-layover/ |
After arriving in Minneapolis, the captain and his co-pilot, Betty Pina, vanpooled to the flight crew's designated hotel and met up later in the concierge room set up with snacks and drinks for airline employees. Afterward, there was supposed to be a short overnight stay, before the two piloted a return flight to Seattle the next morning. I would hope that the rule on "bottle to throttle/bottle to brief" are well spelled out, or that the SOP has crystal clear guidance on that. "The crew member didn't feel comfortable flying with (the captain) the next day, so called the (first officer on duty)," Pina said. That report triggered the duty officer's subsequent calls to the captain's room, asking about his fitness for duty, her lawsuit contends. After the captain acknowledged drinking, the duty officer scratched the captain and Pina from piloting the return flight to Seattle, she said. The two instead were put in coach seating on a later flight bound for Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, Pina said. |
Originally Posted by Lonewolf_50
(Post 10084865)
.. from what is in the article, it would appear that the FO tried to work within the system, and has gotten frustrated with the response.
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aterpster: I don't know about you but I have never been raped. Probably because I am an ugly S.O.B., I don't know.
The point is it is all very well sitting there pontificating on what should or should not be done. Until it happens to you, you have no idea what sort of thought processes/emotions may drive your next actions. So, until it happens to you and you have personal experience to use as a yardstick, I suggest you stop preaching the old "should have done this, should have done that" dogma. |
Originally Posted by ironbutt57
(Post 10084690)
another "me too"
Pina's complaint, filed by Tacoma attorney Lincoln C. Beauregard, names only Alaska Airlines as a defendant, accusing the company of committing "grossly abusive actions (that) epitomize the necessity and purpose of the #MeToo movement." Alaska Airlines spokeswoman Ann Johnson said the captain has been grounded by the airline pending "an open and active investigation." I thought they said the airline already did an investigation, right? Will they do another one to get the 'correct' result? Seems odd to me that the accuser was given six months off after claiming that she was raped while drunk on a short layover. It's hard to imagine an incident involving alcohol and pilots in the modern era where HIMS and the feds wouldn't get involved.
Originally Posted by Lonewolf_50
(Post 10084865)
As I don't see a time tag for the landing/next day's takeoff, I wonder what Alaska Airlines rules are on having a cocktail during trips between sectors.
Alaska Airlines was famously sued for cockpit porn in 1995 by a female MD-80 captain and a large cash settlement was reached. Her husband's unfortunate subsequent demise on Mount Everest was chronicled in Jon Krakeur's 1997 bestseller Into Thin Air. |
Why is this "front page" news?
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Originally Posted by KelvinD
(Post 10084928)
aterpster: I don't know about you but I have never been raped. Probably because I am an ugly S.O.B., I don't know.
The point is it is all very well sitting there pontificating on what should or should not be done. Until it happens to you, you have no idea what sort of thought processes/emotions may drive your next actions. So, until it happens to you and you have personal experience to use as a yardstick, I suggest you stop preaching the old "should have done this, should have done that" dogma. |
Originally Posted by aterpster
(Post 10085219)
Please skip the lecture. Professional women in American society are well versed on the necessary steps to report the crime of rape on a timely basis. This woman is a sophisticated professional, not a backwoods farm wife.
Rape is not like being mugged. |
Originally Posted by axefurabz
(Post 10085185)
Why is this "front page" news?
The fact that the victim has allowed her name to be made public is a testament to her strength and her conviction that unacceptable behavior needs like this needs to be identified as such and actions taken to make sure that it does not happen again. As the father of two young adult daughters I applaud this pilot speaking out and feel that the future for my girls will be brighter and safer for the courage and voice of the victim here. This story is a reminder that any problems that arise as a result of diversity in our work environments are most often not the responsibility of the few who are bringing a new look to our work forces. Problems are most often the responsibility of those in the majority who are unable to treat all with the respect and dignity that they deserve. The message to all who would take advantage of others in unlawful or unethical ways must be that there are many eyes watching them and many willing to use their voices to call for truth and justice. I limit most of my contributions to PP to the technical discussion threads where I feel that I am most qualified to contribute. The entry in this thread questioning why the focus on this topic has motivated me to contribute here. |
Originally Posted by aterpster
(Post 10085219)
Please skip the lecture. Professional women in American society are well versed on the necessary steps to report the crime of rape on a timely basis. This woman is a sophisticated professional, not a backwoods farm wife.
|
Originally Posted by J.O.
(Post 10085298)
Please list your personal experience in dealing with such personal traumas. If you have none, I suggest you stop digging a hole you’ll never climb out from.
What hole am I digging? |
The British male sexual-violence support organisation Survivors UK recently carried out a study on behalf of the Greater London Authority to find out reporting rates among men.
Of the 500 male rape victims included in the survey, 3.9% reported their rape to the Plod. Perhaps the other 96.1% are lying about having been attacked. Personally, I don't think so. Reporting rates among women are believed to be higher. But not hugely so, even today. A very large study by the U.S. Department of Justice in 2010 found that two out of three rapes of women are never reported. |
Are any of the folks on here asking "Why didn't she report it to the police at the time," women?
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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. 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. 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. |
Originally Posted by Gauges and Dials
(Post 10085371)
Are any of the folks on here asking "Why didn't she report it to the police at the time," women?
Oddly enough, this only happens with sexual violence. If I tell people, for example, that my laptop computer was stolen from my car, nobody says:- * What did you do to provoke the thief? * If it really was stolen, you ought to be able to show me the police report. * How do you know the thief didn't genuinely believe you were giving your computer away? * You're just saying your computer was stolen because you like attention. * It serves you right for having a computer in the first place. * You lucky bastard...hell, I wish somebody'd steal my computer. Etc. |
Blind Squirrel, Pax and Kelvin have the right approach. She probably awoke, realised that this wasn't good then with a splitting headache and feeling crook headed off to get showered (remember the vomit?). She was clearly confused and probably embarrassed and possibly wasn't sure she had just drunk too much.
Then later after piecing together the "this isn't right" bits, how and where she woke up, the lets get the story straight conversation, the bruise and a growing feeling of dread she realised that she had probably been raped. What to do.... she has probably showered a couple of times, its 24+ hours after the event (so will there be any DNA evidence), if she goes to the police and it turns out there is insufficient proof then her career is finished (probation etc). All in all she's in a very tough position. Particularly if the pilot has long standing in the company etc. Unfortunately, I'm guessing if its true that this isn't the first time the captain has drugged a victim. I wonder will we hear from more coming out of the woodwork? |
Has she made a formal complaint to the police yet?
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I'm female, never been raped, not a pilot, tertiary educated and of above average intelligence - just. I wondered why she didn't report to the police but then I only have to think back to the odd time or two I have been sexually assaulted, not raped, and think about the utter confusion one is presented with in one's own head.
1. I can't believe this person I work with just did that? 2. Is it really as serious as I think? 3. Did it really happen? 4. Who do I tell? I reported it to my manager, the response was "that's not good. better stay away from him." Come on guys...it isn't clear cut even when totally sober. This woman's head would have been all over the place until the drug in her system wore off. This thread sounds like a total vilification of the "she" in order to lessen, or detract from, the culpability of the "he". One can't blame her for her actions given the attitude of the males one reads on this forum. This can't possibly have been a one-off either. What's the bet other victims speak out now and every single one of them will be subjected to the scrutiny and misongynistic judgement by you holier-than-thou males who have never made a bad judgement call in your lives. (I would like to mention I note not all viewpoints expressed on this thread by males lack support or compassion for this woman) |
This can't possibly have been a one-off either. What's the bet other victims speak out now and every single one of them will be subjected to the scrutiny and misongynistic judgement by you holier-than-thou males who have never made a bad judgement call in your lives. |
here we see the beginning of the end of a career based solely on unsubstantiated accusations....
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4EvahLearning.
Thanks for putting some balance into the argument. It does help to put the woman's point of view on it. I'm not coming down on either side here, just trying to get a balanced view of why it has turned out the way it has. |
In the US, less than 50% of women report their rapes/assaults. Some of the reasons they don't report can be read right here in this thread.
I urge everyone reading this to try and be more understanding of other humans. I am trying to be more understanding myself... |
Looks like the story is getting traction in the activist #MeToo media movement. It appears that the alleged victim has hired an agent and will be making appearances on network morning shows next week.
On the basis of her experience of over a year as 'a pilot for a major airline' (six months of it on leave of absence) Ms. Pina says the issue of rape is not dealt with in the industry. From the ABC News Good Morning America web page: Alaska Airlines pilot accuses co-pilot [sic] of rape in lawsuit, calls it a 'not-dealt-with issue in our industry' By Catherine Thorbecke Sabina Ghebremedhin Mar 16, 2018, 8:09 AM ET An Alaska Airlines pilot who is suing her employer, claiming that she was drugged and raped by her co-pilot during a layover, said she believes that what happened to her is an industry-wide issue that is often "swept under the rug." "I believe that this is an under-reported, swept-under-the-rug, not-dealt-with issue in our industry," Betty Pina, an Alaska Airlines first officer and former military pilot, told ABC News. "It's not just our airline." Pina's lawsuit comes on the heels of the worldwide #MeToo and #TimesUp movements, which see hundreds of women speaking out against sexual harassment and misconduct, especially in the workplace. The lawsuit argues that Engelien's "grossly abusive actions epitomize the necessity and purpose of the #MeToo movement." |
Font Page News
Originally Posted by axefurabz
(Post 10085185)
Why is this "front page" news?
A pilot is accused of raping another pilot and you think this should NOT be front page news? |
Making a Police Matter into an Employment Matter
As we are seeing, it doesn't work well.
Harrassment, unwanted comments, touching, advances and suchlike are generally workplace matters that can be referred to HR. Drugging and rape are for the police to handle. HR is simply unequipped to take over a criminal situation from the police. Yes, the lady dropped the ball by not immediately calling the police or at least a rape crisis support center. Now that the criminal case can probably no longer be made, she's trying to to get HR to play cop. That said, waking up while still drugged and not knowing what happened, she was likely not fully rational at the moment. People are rarely at their best in a crime or accident scene. They are almost always taken by surprise. |
One of the posters up-thread mentioned the point about the FO being on probation when this event (a roofie in the wine, it would appear?) took place. That little tidbit adds another layer of worry about reporting what happened. The crew are already on the hot seat, as I understand the news story, since an FA called in and said "I think they were drinking" and after a call to the captain the crew was replaced. (Apologies if I have misunderstood that part).
Per accounts by my friends who joined the airline industry back in the 80's -- when on probation they don't even need to provide a reason to let you go. I suspect that is an oversimplification of the situation, but that's how it felt to a lot of new FO's whom I kept in touch with. Beyond the confusion of the drugged state and the "WTF happened?" reaction the "if I report it I'll be done due to probation and being too much trouble to the company that I worked so hard to get a job with" ... that is a hell of a tough spot to be in for the FO. The part that really grinds on my brain, though, is that they, the crew, the Captain and the FO, had a sector to fly the next day and someone put a roofie in the FO's glass of wine? If that is in fact true, that's just effed up: (1) don't treat people like that, would you want someone doing that to your daughter/sister? (2) FFS, flight safety! |
Originally Posted by ironbutt57
(Post 10085868)
here we see the beginning of the end of a career based solely on unsubstantiated accusations....
We usually do better in Rumors & News with accidents, incidents, and drunk pilots caught at check-in, because there is at least a modicum of fact. Having said that, I trust justice will prevail for the principals in this episode. If, in fact, the F/O was raped by the captain, I weep for her that the layover hotel did not become a crime scene at the time. If, in fact, he raped her and that was proven in a criminal court of law, he should have been sentenced to a very long jail term. But, none of this happened on a timely basis. We are now reduced to a civil action, which in cases like this, are always suspect, unlike a criminal proceeding with conviction. |
Originally Posted by Cynical Sid
(Post 10084688)
IMHO this is the problem with so many cases like this. Alaska Airlines is an airline, not an investigation agency. Like any other company it should not be expected to be competent to deal with this. It is not their responsibility. Rape is a criminal offence and should be dealt with by the police only.
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So here’s the problem.
One employee makes a very serious allegation against another employee. Yet due to the timing of the allegation, (never made to the police!) no ‘incontrovertible’ evidence is available. Two reasonably plausible versions of events remain entirely possible. Yet there’s an ‘outraged’ expectation that just making such a heinous allegation, without any reasonable due process, or ‘competent’ investigation should alone, be sufficient to end the career of one individual? In other words. The allegation is SO serious, it can’t possibly be wrong, so why bother requiring proof? Can I just ask. In this #MeToo, #Time’sUp era. When did we jettison the fundamental principle of innocent until proven guilty? The place to test allegations of serious criminal offences, is in a court of law. Not in the press. On daytime TV, or amongst Hollywood activists. Nor frankly, in the HR department of an organisation, threatened with massive litigation, if they get their deliberations ‘wrong’! |
Another problem is that none of the action against the company or a private prosecution against him will put him in prison. IF he is guilty of this crime then the only place he should be is prison to protect others. Only the police can do that.
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The problem is that she seems to have NOT reported this to the police, now I understand that a good amount of these types of assaults / attacks go unreported but unfortunately the lack of report makes this a 'nothing to see here' scenario.
I assume that there was no rape kit, blood samples or breath tests administered so what can actually be proven here...... nothing. It is a purely he said she said scenario. Expecting the airline to act on what is effectively an unfounded and impossible to prove allegation is a bit naive. We can't have Pilots getting fired months down the track for a complaint like this, as it was said earlier, Alaskan Airlines is not an investigative body and expecting them to decide careers on the basis of this evidence is just not on. How do we know she was drugged, where is the evidence? How do we know they actually engaged in intercourse, where is the evidence? The complainant needs something a bit more solid that accusations if you ask me? |
Reading the news reports carefully, it looks as if the female pilot's initial intention was to alert the company that one of their pilots was a serious problem. She didn't intend to report a rape and get him charged. I imagine she thought the company would investigate and take appropriate action.
Instead, the company effectively suspended her for six months and did nothing at all about the male pilot. I imagine they hoped she'd get fed up and leave, chalking it up to experience. When she didn't, they were forced to allow her back to work, where she discovered that this man was still flying, and still potentially being rostered with female pilots. Perhaps even herself. It looks as if, at that point, she realised that she would have to go to law and expose both the pilot and the company in public. |
PaxBritannica
She is indeed reverting to lawyers to address her grievance. Now, Pina, 39, a Seattle-area resident and decorated Army chopper pilot who has been flying commercial flights for Alaska since 2016, is suing the airline. Her suit claims Alaska Airlines is liable for its captain's alleged drugging and raping of her that night, and for its subsequent failure to hold him accountable after she reported what happened to airline officials. "I'm infuriated that he's still working there," Pina said of the accused captain, who she said remains on Alaska's active seniority list for pilots. That is a big problem! A section of society is being encouraged to believe, they can make very serious allegations with impunity. Expecting the alleged ‘assailant’ to bear the consequences of such an accusation. Without there ever being any inconvenience of proving such an event actually took place! She admits to being “infuriated that he’s still working there”. Meanwhile the lawsuit for ‘unspecified damages’, (read, demand for a life changing sum of money!) rumbles on. At the same time apparently, as launching a media tour. This is not the way to deal with rape, or rapists! It doesn’t get them off the streets. It protects nobody! Though perhaps the bar is set lower when suing for damages? I believe the standard of proof required in civil cases (balance of probability) is lower than that required in criminal cases? (Beyond reasonable doubt) |
Originally Posted by FCeng84
(Post 10085281)
This is front page news because we have here what appears to possibly be a case of a tainted drink being used to facilitate a rape by one airline pilot of another. The victim here chose at first to seek justice within the organization of the airline involved. Finding that result to be less than satisfactory she is now seeking justice in a public forum.
The fact that the victim has allowed her name to be made public is a testament to her strength and her conviction that unacceptable behavior needs like this needs to be identified as such and actions taken to make sure that it does not happen again. As the father of two young adult daughters I applaud this pilot speaking out and feel that the future for my girls will be brighter and safer for the courage and voice of the victim here. This story is a reminder that any problems that arise as a result of diversity in our work environments are most often not the responsibility of the few who are bringing a new look to our work forces. Problems are most often the responsibility of those in the majority who are unable to treat all with the respect and dignity that they deserve. The message to all who would take advantage of others in unlawful or unethical ways must be that there are many eyes watching them and many willing to use their voices to call for truth and justice. I limit most of my contributions to PP to the technical discussion threads where I feel that I am most qualified to contribute. The entry in this thread questioning why the focus on this topic has motivated me to contribute here. |
Originally Posted by 4468
(Post 10086877)
Though perhaps the bar is set lower when suing for damages? I believe the standard of proof required in civil cases (balance of probability) is lower than that required in criminal cases? (Beyond reasonable doubt) Remember OJ Simpson was found not guilty in the criminal trial, but subsequently found civilly liable in a subsequent civil trial. Justice was not served in that case. |
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