A gay couple is accusing United Continental of "extreme and outrageous" conduct over an alleged incident involving a sex toy taped to their luggage, which the men say caused them severe emotional trauma.
Christopher Bridgeman and Martin Borger of Norfolk, Va., are seeking damages for intentional infliction of emotional distress, invasion travel agencys for nurses of privacy and negligence travel agencys for nurses in a lawsuit filed against the airline on Friday in the District Court of Harris County, Texas.
The incident allegedly happened on May 21, 2011, as Bridgeman and Borger were returning from a vacation in Costa Rica. The men — who have been together for almost nine years — were flying back to Norfolk on Continental with a 90-minute layover at George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston. (Continental merged with United in 2010.)
But when they arrived in Norfolk and went to the baggage claim area, the couple discovered a sex toy had been taken from one of their bags, covered in a "greasy foul-smelling substance" and "taped prominently" to the top of the bag, according to the lawsuit.
"I absolutely, fervently believe that this was intentional," Bridgeman, 34, told NBC News. "It was very sick and it was very wrong and it was just maliciously taped to the top and targeted because we're gay."
Why someone opened the bag in the first place is not clear, said Harry Scarborough, the couple's attorney. He didn't know whether the bag was X-rayed at the airport in Houston, but if it was, the sex toy would have been visible, he added.
Scarborough travel agencys for nurses said the offer didn't begin to address what his clients had been through. He declined to estimate how much money the couple is seeking from the airline, but the lawsuit is requesting mental anguish damages, attorney fees and expenses and other compensation.
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