Southwest Airlines denies lawsuit claim that pilot planted camera in bathroom

Southwest Airlines has reportedly denied a claim from a lawsuit that accuses two Southwest pilots of hiding a camera in an on-board bathroom and then livestreaming the video in the cockpit.

Renee Steinaker, who’s been a Southwest flight attendant for more than two decades, says in a lawsuit that she discovered the live-stream of the video upon entering the cockpit during a flight in February 2017.

“When I walked into the cockpit, I noticed that his iPad was located on the window and on it appeared a picture of the pilot,” Steinaker told ABC News on Monday.

“I looked further and I realized that it was our pilot, the captain in the lavatory, and then I looked even further. I stared at it and realized that the picture was moving. So, it appeared to be a livestreaming video of the captain in the lavatory,” she said.

Court filings also show that Steinaker alerted the airline of what she had seen when the flight landed, but that Southwest told her to stay quiet about the incident.

Southwest denied Steinaker’s claims to ABC.

“The false video reference made to the in-flight crew was an inappropriate attempt at humor,” the airline said in a statement to the news network. “When the incident happened two years ago, we swiftly investigated the claim, confirmed that no cameras were placed in any of the lavatories onboard and addressed the reported event with the crew involved.”

Both pilots have also denied the allegations. All three remain employees of the airline.

“A purpose of this suit is to make sure that the culture that treats sexual harassment and hostile working environments at 30,000 feet as a joke will, it is hoped, end with the successful conclusion of this lawsuit,” Steinaker’s attorney Ronald Goldman said in a statement to the news outlet. 

The Hill has reached out to Southwest for comment.