Tiny Payout In TSA Breast Exposure Lawsuit

A male TSA worker said that he had wished he was there when she first passed through. The employee, Murley recalled, added that “he would just have to watch the video.”

Texas woman, 24, was paid $2350 to settle airport frisking claim

TSA Pays Up

JUNE 1--The U.S. government paid a paltry $2350 to settle a lawsuit brought by a Texas woman who sued the Transportation Security Administration after her breasts were exposed during a vigorous frisking at a Texas airport, records show.

In response to a Freedom of Information Act request, the Department of Justice released a copy of the settlement agreement reached earlier this year with Lynsie Murley, the 24-year-old Amarillo woman who sued the TSA for negligence and intentional infliction of emotional distress in connection with the May 2008 incident at the Corpus Christi airport.

The eight-page agreement notes that the settlement does not constitute an admission by government officials of any “liability, fault or wrongdoing.” It also stipulates that legal fees paid to Murley’s lawyers were not to exceed 25 percent of the settlement amount (or $587.50).

Murley, pictured above, charged in her lawsuit that she was “singled out for extended search procedures,” and that a TSA agent frisked her and “pulled Plaintiff’s blouse completely down, exposing Plaintiff’s breasts to everyone in the area.”

TSA employees, Murley added, “joked and laughed about the incident for an extended period of time.” After leaving the security line to be “consoled by an acquaintance who had brought her to the airport,” Murley returned to the line, where a male TSA worker said that he had wished he was there when she first passed through. The employee, Murley recalled, added that “he would just have to watch the video.” The incident left Murley “extremely embarrassed and humiliated,” according to her complaint.

In January, when U.S. District Court filings revealed that a settlement had been reached, TSG requested a copy of the document memorializing the deal as well as the amount of money being paid to Murley.

However, Kathy Colvin, a spokesperson for the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Northern District of Texas, refused to provide the agreement or any details about the settlement. The settlement was subsequently provided to TSG in response to a FOIA request filed with the Justice Department’s Executive Office for United States Attorneys.