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- Jul 23, 2003
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Ashley Barno said she received mysterious texts as she boarded a flight at San Diego International Airport in April.
"Hey, Ashley! How are you?" the first text began.
Barno says she didn't recognize the number, and responded, "sorry, I'm not sure who this is."
"BTW I must tell you that you are gorgeous," the person texted her.
She said the texts made her very nervous and she felt unsafe.
"You are looking very gorgeous in that gray top today," read another text.
That's when he told her that his name was "Ahmed" and that he worked for the airlines. She believes he obtained her phone number from the luggage tag on her carry-on bag.
"I am on board now. Are you going to Chicago too??" he texted after they boarded.
Barno said the texting frightened her.
"Just knowing that he knew what I looked like, and that we were in an enclosed flight, on an enclosed plane, and there's no way out, like, really really scared me," she told NBC-7 in New York.
The man continued to text her and said that their "friendship" could mean flight perks for her.
"I can always give you good seats, access to the lounges, and free drinks," he texted.
Barno told a flight attendant about the harassment, and they had the man escorted off the plane when it landed in Chicago.
"I called my sister, and I was crying profusely because I just felt," Barno said, "I mean, the best way to describe it was, I felt naked in a public place."
Barno says the airline was not responsible to her emails, and she is suing them for negligent hiring and sexual harassment.
She was also told that it was better to use luggage tags with a flap in order to prevent personal information being used in such a manner.