They Say Their Layover at the Beach Turned Into a Nightmare

The women sipped from a can of beer, and the "rest of the night became a blur." So reads a lawsuit filed Monday by two JetBlue flight attendants, who claim they were drugged and one of them sexually assaulted—by JetBlue pilots. The suit describes Jane Doe 1 of Riverton, Utah, and Jane Doe 2 of Fort Worth, Texas, as being in San Juan, Puerto Rico, for a May 9, 2018, overnight layover. After arriving on the flight from Washington, DC, the women and another female co-worker went to the beach, where they met Dan Watson and Eric Johnson, who they learned were JetBlue pilots. There, the suit claims they were offered an opened beer from a lunch bag by Johnson, and that all three women sipped it. They allege that beer was laced. More:

• The next thing Jane Doe 1 recalls was waking up in a bed at the InterContinental Hotel as she was being raped by Johnson. She alleges the third female crew member, who is not part of the lawsuit, was in the bed and subsequently raped, and that the pilot said, "Thank you for making my fantasy come true."

• The New York Times reports Jane Doe 2 alleges she was brought to her room by Watson, who had "the intent to rape" her but did not do so because she "began vomiting, which was a turnoff," per the suit. He exited her room "after having been scratched."
• Once home, Jane Doe 1 tested positive for HPV, which she claims she could only have gotten from the pilot, Fox News reports.
• The women say they're suing in part because Jane Doe 1 reached out to JetBlue with the allegations but the men weren't suspended or put on leave, the women's lawyer, Abe Melamed, tells the Washington Post. "One of the plaintiffs has continued to bump into one of the pilots and has an immediate visceral reaction and goes to the bathroom and vomits every time it happens."
• In comments to NBC News, JetBlue counters that it "takes allegations of violent or inappropriate behavior very seriously and investigates such claims thoroughly." It would not comment on the case or its handling of the allegations.
• The women are seeking damages from the men and the airline for aggravated sexual abuse, assault and battery, sex discrimination, and civil rights violations.

(More JetBlue stories.)