Dildo Prank Costs Airline a Lawsuit

HOUSTON (CN) - A gay couple claims in court that Continental Airlines workers humiliated them by taking a dildo from their luggage and taping it outside the bag for everyone in baggage claim to see.

Christopher Bridgeman and Martin Borger sued United Continental Holdings and Continental Airlines in Harris County Court.

The men say they arrived in Houston from Costa Rica, retrieved their undisturbed checked luggage and after going through Customs rechecked their bags for a flight to Norfolk, Va.

"Upon arriving in Norfolk, plaintiffs exited the aircraft and went to the baggage claim area," the complaint states. "Plaintiffs' bags were sent to the baggage carousel where plaintiffs discovered, to their horror, that a private sex toy had been removed from one of their bags, covered in a greasy foul-smelling substance and taped prominently to the top of their bag.

"Plaintiffs experienced extreme shock and horror when they observed the above-described bag and when observing the surprised and/or laughing faces of numerous onlookers in the baggage claim area.

"Plaintiffs were experiencing such a high degree of shock and embarrassment that they felt compelled to call two friends to come to the airport to assist them.

"Fortunately, the friends arrived and were able to assist plaintiffs out of the airport and to their home, but by that time the damage had already been done, and plaintiffs had suffered severe emotional trauma."

The men claim the baggage handlers probably pulled the prank "because of the fact that the sex toy was contained in the bag of a male, and because the employee(s) responsible knew that the bag belonged to a male due to the name tag attached to the bag and the male clothing contained in the bag."

They seek punitive damages for intentional infliction of emotional distress, invasion of privacy and negligence.

They are represented Harry Scarborough.

United and Continental Airlines merged in May 2010 to form one of the world's largest airlines.

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