NJ woman harassed by drunk

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A 47-year-old New Jersey woman says United Airlines flight attendants did nothing to stop a visibly drunk man from sexual harassing her and kept feeding him more booze on a flight last month, according to a report.

Jennifer Rafieyan says the man was already intoxicated when he boarded the flight from Newark to Phoenix and needed help from two flight attendants just to make it to his seat next to her, according to an account of the incident she provided to HuffingtonPost.com.

Rafieyan said the 64-year-old man rubbed her legs, grabbed her knee, kissed her hands and put his head on her shoulder, the report said. The man then grabbed a pen and notepad out of her hand and wrote “PASIONAT NITE XX,” she told HuffingtonPost.com.

Rafieyan, a married mother of three who was traveling with her 12-year-old daughter, said that when she reported the man’s behavior to flight attendants they said they were sorry, but that nothing could be done. She was also told the man harassed a flight attendant, the report said.

Despite her complaints, Rafieyan said the man was allowed to continue ordering drinks. He downed three more whiskeys and a small bottle of wine, the report said.

While he didn’t touch Rafieyan again, the man got belligerent during the rest of the flight, she said. He accused multiple people of stealing his passport and refused to sit down until a flight attendant said the plane would be diverted and forced to make an emergency landing.

When Rafieyan, a resident of Warren in Somerset County, wrote to United on March 29 to tell them what happened on the flight they responded with an apology by email and sent her four $100 travel vouchers.

The Federal Aviation Administration doesn’t allow airlines to board passengers who are visibly intoxicated. United has a similar policy that it can deny entry to a flight to someone who is drunk.