Overview
- The lawsuit says that in December 2019 a 13-year-old passenger, Madison Cupp, was comforted by her father during turbulence and a flight attendant then reported suspected trafficking and inappropriate touching.
- Court papers say a Delta station manager in Newport News alerted police, armed officers boarded on arrival, separated Cupp from her family and questioned her father before concluding there was no probable cause to charge him.
- Madison, now an adult, filed the suit in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia on December 29, 2025, and Delta filed a motion to dismiss the case on June 3, 2026.
- The complaint accuses Delta and Endeavor Air of negligence, false imprisonment and intentional infliction of emotional distress and seeks $2 million in compensatory and $350,000 in punitive damages.
- The case follows a 2026 Virginia Supreme Court ruling that limited airline immunity and could influence airline training, reporting procedures and how crew members and station staff coordinate with police in suspected trafficking cases.