Lesson learned: If the TSA exposes a woman’s breasts, then it may have to face legal consequences. Lynsie Murley, a 24-year old from Amarillo, Texas, filed a lawsuit against the TSA for negligence and intentional infliction of emotional distress because of a patdown that caused her breasts to be exposed, MSNBC.com reports. Lynsie Murley claims that she was “singled out for extended search procedures,” according to the Daily Mail.
She claims that a TSA agent patted her down and “pulled Plaintiff’s blouse completely down, exposing Plaintiff’s breasts to everyone in the area.” If that wasn’t horrifying enough, Lynsie Murley alleges that the TSA agents present “joked and laughed about the incident for an extended period of time.”
Shortly after her deposition to government lawyers, she was awarded her settlement.
Typically, in a negligence lawsuit, these elements need to be present:
- Duty: Did the defendant owe a duty to the plaintiff?
- Breach of Duty: Did the defendant breach the duty that the defendant owed to the plaintiff?
- Cause In Fact: Can the plaintiff prove that defendant’s actions caused plaintiff injury?
- Proximate Cause: Could the defendant have foreseen such an injury could occur?
While Lynsie Murley settled her lawsuit against the TSA, there may be more lawsuits like this in the future when travel season peaks again.
Related Resources:
- Lynsie Murley Wins Case Against TSA Over Extreme Patdown (Huffington Post)
- Elements of a Negligence Case (FindLaw)
- Passengers are Stripping for TSA Agents (FindLaw’s Law & Daily Life Blog)
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