Buckle up and put away your tablets! It’s excessive flying, he mentioned, she mentioned.
Turbulence has hit the skies round tech billionaire Peter Thiel after a flight attendant accused the investor’s husband Matt Danzeisen of “violently” throwing cooler baggage at him aboard the couple’s personal jet – along with his lawyer accusing the rich couple of “intimidating” his shopper.
Danzeisen’s group denounces “extortion” and claims that if a “delicate cloth cooler bag” “grazed” his leg, it was an accident – along with his lawyer calling the costs a high-altitude “shakedown”.
In a grievance filed Monday in federal court docket for the Central District of California, flight attendant Stefanie Bojar alleges that Danzeisen – the top of personal investments at Thiel Capital – injured her throughout a July 27, 2024 flight from Solar Valley, Idaho, to Washington, DC.
In keeping with the grievance, the financier turned indignant when a rest room was allegedly used to “retailer a number of heavy cooler baggage and cooking gear supplied by the personal chef” and was “quickly obstructed.”
Danzeisen “demanded rapid entry,” in accordance with the papers. As Bojar “dragged two heavy cooler baggage down the aisle and positioned them to her proper, Danzeisen roughly pushed her and, in a violent match of anger, started throwing the cooler baggage immediately at her,” the go well with states.
In a dramatic description, the grievance alleges that the luggage hit Bojar’s “left ankle, foot and leg, inflicting her to lose her steadiness, fall backwards towards the cabin wall and collapse to the ground.” She additionally claims he “threw a grocery bag containing meals and drinks, inflicting meals to spill into the cabin.”
In keeping with the lawsuit, the alleged incident came about in entrance of Thiel — who’s value an estimated $27.5 billion — in addition to the couple’s nanny, their kids and the airplane’s captain.
Bojar goes on to allege that Danzeisen entered the toilet along with her little one and he or she “was left mendacity on the ground in ache and tears, humiliated in entrance of a number of witnesses and terrified that Danzeisen would come out of the toilet and assault her once more.”
Danzeisen’s legal professional, Alex Spiro, criticized the lawsuit in a press release to Web page Six, saying it was simply scorching air.
“This can be a shakedown concerning a bag hitting somebody’s leg, and we do not pay for shakedowns, so we’ll see everybody in court docket,” he informed Web page Six.
Bojar’s submitting follows a lawsuit Danzeisen filed towards her for breach of contract and declaratory judgment in Could, claiming Bojar “led an extortion marketing campaign” towards him and Thiel, “searching for hundreds of thousands as a result of a delicate cloth cooler bag allegedly got here into contact along with her leg throughout a theft practically two years in the past.”
In keeping with Danzeisen’s go well with, with a view to “enable his little one to make use of the restroom earlier than having an accident, Mr. Danzeisen eliminated the cooler baggage from the entrance restroom whereas Ms. Bojar stood close by.” The submitting claims nobody noticed Bojar hit and that she “fabricated” the story.
Danzeisen’s lawsuit claims that “each witness gave the identical reply: If a bag brushed his leg, it was a pure accident.”
The papers additionally declare that Bojar “launched a smear marketing campaign towards her targets to place strain on them,” “unfold false rumors” and that by “disclosing even the names of her passengers, not to mention what allegedly occurred on board the flights, she violated the confidentiality settlement she signed.”
The go well with additionally alleges that Bojar despatched “a requirement letter, expressly threatening to sue Mr. Danzeisen and the Firm for civil claims that uncovered them to hundreds of thousands in potential damages.”
The lawsuit claims that “Mr. Danzeisen wants the court docket’s intervention to cease Ms. Bojar’s shakedown.” »
In keeping with the papers, Bojar additionally filed a compensation declare “towards the plane administration firm” she labored for and “collected six figures and counting.”
However Bojar’s lawyer tells Web page Six that this can be a case of rich people intimidating the little man.
“We consider that is an unlucky state of affairs the place we see the opposite aspect utilizing the authorized system as a weapon to intimidate our shopper and put strain on Stefanie,” Elliott Jung of HHJ Trial Attorneys informed us. “We have handled well-known individuals and celebrities previously they usually use precisely some of these intimidation ways to scare victims. Typically it really works and this isn’t a kind of instances. They view her as a destitute flight attendant and thought they might scare her by submitting this baseless lawsuit towards her.”
After the theft, Bojar claims she sought medical consideration and was reportedly identified with a “break up longitudinal tear of the peroneus brevis tendon of her left ankle” and “finally needed to endure surgical procedure on her left ankle.”
She additionally claims that “accidents to her lumbar backbone and left decrease extremity, together with her left knee, ankle and foot” required ongoing therapy “in addition to critical psychological accidents.” She additionally claims to be “unable to renew her profession as a flight attendant”.
In her counterclaim, Bojar denies allegations that she was attempting to “extort” the couple.
Bojar – who had been employed by the couple since 2022 and accomplished greater than 200 flights with them – additionally claims she was “subjected to repeated verbal abuse and humiliation by Danzeisen throughout her missions”, and that he “recurrently shouted”, “belittled her and created a hostile and intimidating atmosphere”.