Woman Suing TSA for Sexual Assault Following Pat-Down

A woman has filed a suit against the U.S. federal government, which claims that she was sexually assaulted by an agent of the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) at an airport security screening checkpoint, where she was subjected to a groin search underneath her clothing.

According to CNN reports, the lawsuit was registered last week in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of North Carolina and alleges civil battery by the United States in the form of an unreasonable search that was enforced by a TSA officer.

The suit seeks “actual damages for battery, loss of liberty, unconstitutional search and any emotional damages” resulting from the compulsory groin search. It alleges that the female officer in question groped the plaintiff’s vulva for self-gratification and in order to “humiliate, dominate, and control” her.

The incident occurred on the afternoon of June 27, 2019, when the woman passed through the Asheville Regional Airport on route to Los Angeles. She passed through the standard security check and body scanner, which the TSA officer said indicated that she would need to undergo a groin search, according to the lawsuit.

The passenger, “clearly and unambiguously advised (the officer) that she would not consent to the touching of her genitals,” the lawsuit states, and it contends that the search deviated from the normal protocol in several ways.

It argues that the female TSA officer “insisted” the woman spread her legs wider apart than the footprints on the floormat indicated, then ran her hands up her legs and slid her hands inside the passenger’s shorts, making direct contact with her genitals.

The lawsuit describes how the woman flinched as the officer’s hands contacted her genitals, at which point the officer told her, “If you resist, I will do this again.” The lawsuit points out that TSA policy does not allow for such threats, although guidelines stated on the agency’s website do specify that sensitive areas, “may undergo a pat-down more than once for the TSA officer to confirm no threat items are detected.”

The TSA website also upholds that passenger pat-downs are to be performed by offers of the same gender and explains that, “TSA officers use the back of the hands for pat-downs over sensitive areas of the body. In limited cases, additional screening involving a sensitive area pat-down with the front of the hand may be needed to determine that a threat does not exist.”

In this woman’s case, the search ultimately found her not to be in possession of any prohibited items. TravelPulse has reached out to Asheville Regional Airport for comment without receiving any immediate response, while the TSA already told CNN in a statement that it will not comment on pending litigation.