A Southwest Airlines pilot has filed a lawsuit against the airline, her union, and a former coworker who admitted last year to locking the cockpit door during a flight and then stripping in front of the other pilots.
Christine Janning claims that Southwest punished by grounding her after she informed the business and the FBI about Michael Haak’s alleged sexual misbehavior and that supervisors disparaged her in memoranda.
She also claims the Southwest Airlines Pilots Association colluded with the airline and refused to back her up. She has filed a sexual assault lawsuit against Haak. Last year, he pled guilty to a federal misdemeanor charge of engaging in a lewd, indecent, or filthy act and was sentenced to probation.
According to Michael Salnick, the attorney for Haak, who made the statement on Wednesday, Haak only removed his clothes after Janning persuaded him to do so. Southwest and the union did not return phone calls seeking comment.
Janning had never met Haak prior to August 2020, when she served as his co-pilot on a trip from Philadelphia to Orlando, according to the lawsuit submitted last week in Orange County, Florida. She claims Haak, a 27-year airline veteran, used his seniority rights the day before to bump another pilot who was set to lead the trip. Janning feels this is because he noticed a female co-pilot was booked.
Janning reported that Haak informed her that this was his last trip and that he had one more task to complete before retiring when they reached cruising altitude.
“Consensual prank”
He allegedly bolted the door, preventing any flight attendant from entering. He allegedly then put the plane on autopilot, stripped naked, started watching pornography on his laptop, and did a sexual act for 30 minutes while taking photos and videos of himself.
According to Salnick, it was Janning who asked Haak if he had any plans before retiring. When he claimed he wanted to fly naked, she informed him he could and then made sexual approaches when he undressed, according to Salnick. He stated that Haak rejected those and categorically denied any obscene behavior occurred.
Haak described the encounter as a “consensual prank” that went out of hand during his sentence hearing last year.
Frank Podesta, Janning’s attorney, denied she encouraged or pursued Haak.
According to the lawsuit, Janning was “horrified,” but she continued flying the plane while shooting images “to create a record.” The plane touched down safely. And that wasn’t Haak’s last flight; he flew for another three weeks.
Meanwhile, Janning didn’t notify a Southwest employee relations investigator about the event until three months later. She claimed she waited because her supervisor had previously disparaged her to a male coworker. She claimed she requested that the investigator not inform her supervisor, but she did.
According to Janning, the airline’s probe was quickly terminated because Haak had retired. Janning then approached the FBI, which charged Haak. She claims Southwest sent Haak to a sexual harassment counseling center in Montreal following an incident with a flight attendant in 2008.
Alleged retaliation
Janning claims she was grounded for more than three months in punishment for the FBI investigation, costing her a portion of her pay. She was subsequently ordered to complete “unnecessary” flight simulator training before returning to work.
She further claimed that on the day she was grounded, the airline stranded her in Denver, forcing the FBI to book her a United Airlines aircraft back to Florida. She claimed a Southwest management circulated a message to more than 25 employees “making unfounded charges” about her flying ability.
When Janning contacted the union, she said the leaders did nothing to assist her but did write a letter to Haak’s court during his misdemeanor hearing indicating he had a “spotless” record.
There are no planned hearings.