Lawyers at Miller Bryant scored a large win this week when a Fort Worth judge denied a motion for summary judgment by American Airlines in a sexual assault case brought by a flight attendant in January of last year.
The summary judgment order, signed by Tarrant County District Judge Kimberly Fitzpatrick, rejected every aspect of American’s MSJ and paves the way for a Jan. 24 jury trial to resolve the dispute. In addition to sexual assault, the lawsuit includes allegations of conspiracy and retaliation.
The plaintiff, Kimberly Goesling of Fort Worth, alleges she was assaulted by a British celebrity chef Mark Sargeant in January 2018 while on a business trip to Germany, where she helped develop a special international menu for American’s first and business class passengers.
A flight attendant with nearly 30 years of experience at the airline, Goesling was a flight crew leader and worked on the airline’s recruitment and training teams — from which she received glowing reviews and led to her receiving special assignments, a press release by Ms. Goesling’s law firm said.
Goesling first went public with her story and American’s role in a 2021 Facebook and Instagram video that has reached more than 25,000 people. In the video, Goesling details the incident, in which Sargeant allegedly assaulted Goesling in her hotel room at 3:30 a.m.
When Goesling reported the incident to American, airline officials did not follow through on promises to pay for her therapy and allow her time away from work as needed. According to Goesling’s video, the HR representative’s first question when she reported the incident was what she was wearing. American also removed Goesling from a coveted position on the airline’s recruitment team.
This all happened despite American’s own investigation that later showed the chef admitted to the attack. Goesling alleges American hired Sargeant without a background check and continued to employ him even after the airline learned of prior allegations against him for alcohol abuse and inappropriate sexual conduct.
“Our belief has always been that when a jury in Fort Worth hears this case and they hear what happened to my client — and how American ignored her and then retaliated against her — they will be appalled,” Dallas attorney Robert Miller, a partner at Miller Bryant and Goesling’s lead lawyer, said in a statement. “All we ever wanted is a chance to tell our story to a jury and now we have that chance.”
Shawna Wright of Kelly Hart, who represents American in the case, did not respond to a request for comment.
This isn’t the first time for American to face a legal troubles related to sexual assault charges by a victim who publicly identified themselves. In 2018, the same year as Goesling’s assault, Colorado resident Aubrey Lane spoke with The Dallas Morning News about her experience on a June 16, 2018 red-eye American flight in which she said she was raped in the airplane bathroom by an intoxicated passenger seated next to her.
The Fort Worth case is 342-314565-20 in the 342nd District Court in Tarrant County.