HUGE Legal News for All Victims of Sexual Assault at American Airlines!

Plus: A warm welcome and a thank you to The Landing's paid subscribers

I have never put an exclamation point in a headline but I cannot stress enough how important this law is for all of you who have shared your assaults by employees at American Airlines—living or dead—and how small the window is to take advantage of it.

This is your limited-time shot.

I’m not a legal expert so I’ll link to some news articles about it below. BUT: As I understand it, just last week, the state of New York enacted an astoundingly rare reprieve for adult victims of any kind of sexual assault to seek justice in the court system—in other words, New York has obliterated the statute of limitations on these cases.

The law applies to survivors of sexual offenses that occurred when they were over the age of 18, with the one-year window beginning six months from the bill signing and allowing claims regardless of the statute of limitations. (CNN)

The statute of limitations for civil suits is very often too short of a time period for victims to have processed what happened to them, to overcome any shame or grief or depression and ongoing trauma. By the time they’re feeling strong enough and/or have the resources to report what happened to them, they’re told it’s too late to seek justice.

A key takeaway for you:

Survivors will also be able to assert claims against institutions or employers that would have been liable had the claims been timely asserted. As a result, in cases where the sexual abuse occurred in the workplace or was associated with the employment relationship, employers may be named as defendants in the lawsuits. The far-reaching implications of this employer/institutional liability have been demonstrated where employers and institutions were confronted with single plaintiff and class action lawsuits that resulted in substantial settlements… (Forbes).

This brand-new move by New York acknowledges what victims of sexual assault know, but the rest of the world can never quite understand or care to comprehend: That you’re often too traumatized to jump through all the hoops to report your attacker at the time, but that their assault stays with you forever. You needed time. Now you have it.

This window of opportunity to take legal action is for all of you who know what it’s like to be in shock, too alone, and/or too young to feel like you could pursue a case.

To not only process your attack slowly, but to feel like you can’t process it at all.

To be utterly alone in having to make decisions that will affect your future.

To have a terrible choice on one hand and a horrendous one on another: Tell your employer and have them punish or ignore you, or don’t tell and possibly regret it.

To know your own colleagues—regardless of gender— will punish you for reporting the attack.

For those of you based out of New York where much of the abuse took place or is allegedly taking place, and where certain pilots and other employees who you report have assaulted you—living and dead—were based out of, there is every chance you can take this opportunity to seek justice.

Even if your assault by a New-York-based employee took place in another country, if the assailant was based out of the company’s New York base, it might be worth contacting a lawyer to ask about your options if you are inclined.

You have a brief window.

You have an entire state’s legal system behind you. You have one shot.

Final Note

I would like to warmly welcome and thank my paid subscribers. Your gesture means more than you know.

Your exclusive content will come at least once a month, and you are more than welcome to decide whether or not to share that content with any and all friends, regardless of whether they’re paid subscribers.

I promise to stay on this and provide original reporting and a platform for this story to continue to be told, whether or not it sees the light of day in mainstream media or not.

I continue to have my doubts that it will at this point, even with the crack journalists I’m hearing are looking into it, having been in this business internationally for 25 years, but I continue to hope that it will.

It only takes one editor to greenlight this story to tip the scales so you are all heard—and then watch how every other outlet (including a few I’ve pitched through personal connections) that has ignored this story so far scrambles to talk to you and tell your stories.

On that note, for all of you, please be very careful who you share any personal details with.

As I posted in the comment section on my last newsletter, I have reason to believe one of the commenters was not who they said they were, and were possibly planning to use any information you provided them against you. (Again, to that commenter, if I’m wrong, please contact me to confirm your identity before you comment again soliciting personal information and identities from readers of The Landing).

Thank you for reading.

More to come next week at the latest.