Janning states she was informed thereafter that the airline’s investigation of her accusations had been closed on account of Haak having retired. Notwithstanding Janning’s request that her report be concealed from the aforementioned boss, the investigator was bound by protocol to divulge such. The delay, according to Janning, was attributable to her boss having previously disparaged her to a male colleague. In the lawsuit, Janning claims to have been “horrified,” but states she kept flying the plane while taking photos “to create a record.” Whether or not Janning is in possession of such photographs-which remain nebulous despite their considerable probative value-has yet to be determined.įor reasons passing understanding, three months passed before Janning reported the alleged incident to a Southwest Airlines employee relations investigator. Janning's attorney, Frank Podesta, denied his client had encouraged Haak, or made sexual advances toward him. Salnick further stated that Janning subsequently made sexual advances, which Haak-who adamantly denies committing the lewd act of which he’s accused-politely rejected. In defense of his client, Salnick puts forth that it was Janning who asked Haak if there was anything he wanted to do before retiring, and encouraged him to disrobe after he’d confided a secret desire to do so. Janning claims Haak then bolted the cockpit door, engaged the aircraft’s autopilot, removed his clothing, commenced viewing pornography on his laptop computer, and committed a lewd act for no less than thirty-minutes while taking photos and videos of himself-which, if true, is as much an indictment of Haak’s character and judgement as it is an approbation of his airmanship and athleticism. Upon reaching cruising altitude-the complaint continues-Haak allegedly told Janning the flight was his last, and that there was something he wanted to do before retiring. Janning ascribes Haak’s actions to an underlying desire to be paired with a female SIC. Janning alleges Haak, a 27-year Southwest Airlines veteran, leveraged his seniority to bump another pilot who’d been scheduled to command the flight. The Southwest pilot union has yet to comment on the matter.Īccording to the lawsuit filed in Orange County, Florida, Janning had never met Haak prior to August 2020, when she served as his Second In Command (SIC) on a flight from Philadelphia to Orlando. Southwest Airlines argues it supported Janning, but states unequivocally that it will “vigorously defend” itself against the lawsuit. Haak's attorney, Michael Salnick, asserts that his client disrobed only after Janning encouraged him to do so, that the alleged lewd act never occurred, and that Janning’s claims of Haak’s “history of sexual misconduct” are spurious.
Janning is suing Haak for sexual assault. She further alleges that the Southwest Airlines Pilots Association-the union by which SWA pilots are represented-conspired with the airline, and refused to support her.
Janning contends that after reporting the incident, Southwest Airlines retaliatorily grounded her, willfully retained Haak in its employ despite his alleged history of sexual misconduct, and disparaged her flying ability in company memoranda. In an instance fraught with inconsistencies and weirdness, Southwest Airlines pilot Christine Janning is suing her employer, her pilots union, and Captain Michael Haak, a former colleague Janning alleges disrobed in front of her and committed a lewd act while the pair were crewing a 2020 flight from Philadelphia to Orlando.
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