Flight attendant sues WestJet after alleged sex assault by pilot during layover
VANCOUVER — A former flight attendant is taking WestJet to court, accusing the airline of failing to take proper action after she alleged she was sexually assaulted by a pilot and then fired for asking how the company responded to her complaint.
Documents filed this week in B.C. Supreme Court describe how Mandalena Lewis was on a stopover in Hawaii in January 2010 when an unnamed WestJet pilot allegedly pulled her onto a hotel bed and proceeded to kiss and grope her.
“(Lewis) was terrified,” reads a statement of claim filed in the case. “She resisted physically, yelling that he stop. … In her panic, (she) managed to leverage her legs into a position where she was physically able to kick out and push (the pilot) off her.”
After returning to her room, the document says: “She vomited, cried, attempted to calm herself without success and barely slept.”