Airline Sued After Woman Allegedly Seriously Assaulted In Hotel Room She Was Forced To Share With Strangers
- A woman was forced to share a hotel room in Paris after her flight was canceled and the airline refused to provide single-occupancy rooms. During the night, she says she woke up to find a naked man on top of her and trying to rape her.
A 30-year-old Brazilian woman with Italian citizenship has recounted a horrific experience she faced in a Paris hotel after she woke in the middle of the night to find a naked man lying on top of her and trying to rape her.
The traumatized victim hadn’t planned to spend the night in the hotel, but after her TAP Air Portugal flight to Lisbon was canceled on May 31, the airline booked her a hotel room, which she had to share with two strangers from the same flight.
Passengers had already boarded flight TP439 from Paris Orly to Lisbon when they were told that the plane wouldn’t be leaving due to a technical problem and that they would have to spend another night in Paris.
European air passenger rules require airlines to provide customers with hotel accommodation if their flight is delayed overnight, so the passengers headed to TAP Air Portugal’s customer service desk to collect hotel vouchers.
When the victim got to the front of the line, the customer service agent told her that the airline hadn’t been able to book enough hotel rooms for all the solo travelers and that she would have to share a room with two other passengers.
The woman initially refused, demanding single occupancy accommodation, but the airline told her she could either accept the offer to share with two strangers or pay out of pocket for her own room.
Without the spare cash to afford an expensive hotel room in Paris, the woman grudgingly accepted the offer. She found herself sharing the room with a German woman and a Brazilian man.
At some point in the night, the German passenger left the room as she was unable to sleep. Later, the woman woke to find a naked man on top of her. She recounted to Brazilian newspaper O Globo: “I was woken up with the naked man on top of me, kissing my neck, holding me, trying to rape me.”
The woman screamed, and her attacker fled the room.
The next day, she reported what had happened to the airline. She says she received little support, although she was given advice from the Portuguese Association for Victim Support (APAV).
On her return to Brazil, the woman filed a police report, and this, in turn, led to an official complaint to TAP Air Portugal. The airline later proposed compensation to the tune of just 5,000 reais (US $920), although the agreement absolved the carrier of blame and didn’t include an apology.
She is now planning to take TAP Air Portugal to court and is seeking compensation of 50,000 reais (US $9,100).
The German woman who had also shared the hotel has already come forward in support of the victim’s lawsuit, saying the airline’s decision to impose shared accommodation with male strangers put women in a “situation of evident vulnerability and insecurity.”
In coming forward to tell her story, the woman provided evidence to O Globo, including a copy of the hotel booking voucher that showed the names of the three passengers sharing the same room. She also provided a photo of the hotel room, which included a single double bed and a couch which the man was sleeping on.
TAP Air Portugal has not responded to requests for comment.
Air Passenger Rights in Europe
Europe has some of the strongest air passenger rights in the world, which not only include generous monetary compensation for lengthy delays, but also access to refreshments, transport, and hotel accommodation.
The rules are contained within a law known as EC 261, which was passed in 2004 and came into effect the following February.
While airlines don’t have to pay compensation if they can prove that the delay or cancellation was due to a so-called ‘extraordinary circumstance,’ the law also contains Right To Care provisions which apply no matter what the reason for the delay or cancellation is.
These provisions are:
- Meals and refreshments in a reasonable relation to the waiting time.
- Hotel accommodation in cases where a stay of one or more nights becomes necessary.
- Transport between the airport and the place of accommodation.
- Two free telephone calls.
The law never stipulated how airlines should provide hotel accommodation for passengers, and while most carriers will try to provide individual rooms for everyone, this is not a legal requirement.
