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Passenger dragged half-naked from plane lavatory sues

    lavatory lawsuit graphic July 3, 1997
   Web posted at: 5:07 p.m. EDT (2107 GMT)
   
   NEW YORK (AP) -- Caught with his pants down on a trans-Atlanticflight,
   a New York businessman insists he is innocent.
   
    Raviv Laor says he was dragged from the bathroom of an AirFrance
   plane with his trousers around his ankles and toilet paperin his hand
   because a flight attendant wrongly thought he wassneaking a smoke.
   
    Laor, who says a malfunctioning smoke alarm went off, is suingthe
   airline for $12 million for his humiliation. He says he went tocourt
   after failing to get an apology or even a reply from theairline.
   
    Air France said Thursday that it was reviewing Laor's allegationsand
   would "respond in due course in the appropriate forum" afterconducting
   its own investigation.
   
  'The depth of my embarrassment I cannot begin to describe'
  
   
   
    The lawsuit, filed last month in Manhattan Supreme Court,asserts that
   20 minutes into a flight from Paris to Newark Airporton May 19, crew
   members broke into the locked lavatory andassaulted Laor.
   
   "The crew members then, while Laor was naked from the waistdown,
   dragged him outside the lavatory, exposing his genitals andother body
   parts to many seated passengers, both female and male,"the lawsuit
   said.
   
    "I was terrified," said Laor, 28, who owns a computer
   servicescompany. "My first reaction was 'My God, something must
   havehappened to the plane.'"
   
    "The depth of my embarrassment I cannot begin to describe," hesaid.
   
    Laor says he neither smokes nor drinks, and had opted for anonsmoking
   flight.
   
    He said his protestations were answered with a threat that hewould be
   arrested for arguing with the crew.
   
    The flight purser "told me I did not have the right to expectprivacy"
   and complained that Americans were "always screamingabout their
   rights," Laor said.
   
    "An official apology from Air France would have made adifference, but
   now too much time has elapsed," Laor says.
   
   Copyright 1997 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material
   may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. rule
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  Related story:
  
   
     * Flight attendant secondhand smoke trial under way - June 2, 1997
       
  Related site:
  
   
     * Air France
       
   
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