An Arkansas woman, Madison Cupp, has filed a $2.35 million lawsuit against Delta Air Lines and its subsidiary Endeavor Air over a 2019 incident where her father was wrongly accused of human trafficking her during a family flight.
According to court documents, Madison was 13 years old in December 2019 and was traveling with her parents and maternal grandparents from Atlanta to Newport News, Virginia for her brother’s U.S. Coast Guard graduation.
During the flight, the plane experienced turbulence, which scared Madison and made her cry, and her father, Nicholas Cupp, tried to comfort her while sitting next to her.
A flight attendant allegedly misinterpreted the interaction and wrongly suspected that the father was trafficking or behaving inappropriately toward his daughter.
The complaint says this misunderstanding was reported to a Delta station manager in Newport News, who then alerted law enforcement without properly checking the facts.
When the plane landed, armed police officers were waiting, and they separated Madison from her family immediately and questioned her father.
After questioning, authorities concluded there was no probable cause to arrest or charge Nicholas Cupp, meaning the trafficking suspicion was not supported by evidence.
The lawsuit claims Madison suffered emotional distress, stomach pain, vomiting, and long-term fear, especially fear of being seen with her father in public again.
The family has accused Delta and Endeavor Air of negligence, false imprisonment, and intentional emotional harm caused by the incident.
