Former American Airlines Flight Attendant Kimberly Goesling Set to Testify Today!

Plus: Updates on multiple historical sexual assaults by American Airlines employees

Sara Hammel
4 min readApr 29, 2022

As I’ve reported before, veteran American Airlines flight attendant Kimberly Goesling is suing American Airlines for $1 million in damages after she says she was raped on an international work trip.

Her lawsuit alleges the airline hired her alleged assailant, “celebrity” chef Mark Sargeant, despite knowing he had a troubled past—and then egged him on to pursue her sexually.

In her fierce resignation letter to the company’s then-CEO, Goesling wrote, “You promised to pay for my treatment after the assault. You did not. You promised time away for treatment. I didn’t get it. You pledged not to retaliate. Retaliation does not begin to describe the horror that you have put me through.”

If you haven’t been following the Fort Worth, Texas-area trial, you can get updates in a few places covering it:

Kaley Johnson has kept on top of the story for the Fort Worth Star-Telegram here (there is an eventual paywall). Check homepages and Google Kimberly’s name for updates every day.

Newsradio KRLD 1080 also is keeping tabs on things here.

Shocking Testimony

This week’s testimony was a damning, public, on-the-record indictment of an enduring misogynistic culture at American Airlines.

For those of you who have reported your own traumas to me over the past few months, who have been assaulted and raped while working for this airline only to be brushed off, retaliated against or silenced, this trial might very well be both affirming and hugely upsetting.

A disturbing series of texts in which Sargent becomes increasingly obsessive and demanding, paying no mind to Goesling’s rebuffs, were shown in court. For those of you who have been in the shadows for too long, here is proof. Here are the words in black and white, read out in open court.

Even the alleged perpetrator himself — the “celebrity” chef Kimberly Goesling says raped her in her hotel room — swears under oath that American Airlines executives egged him on to pursue Goesling while drunk in the wee hours of the morning. (What could possibly go wrong with that scenario? #sarcasm).

This 30-year veteran flight attendant in excellent standing at American Airlines was still nothing but an object to them. She was a Trolley Dolly, a walking Coke machine (as a one-time American exec is rumored to have said of all flight attendants), a waitress in the sky.

Reporter Kaley Johnson wrote about how then-exec Brett Hooyerink nudge-nudged, wink-winked Sargeant along on the night of the assault:

According to Sargeant, Hooyerink told him that Goesling was attracted to Sargeant and that she “was up for it.” Sargeant testified he decided to go to Goesling’s room, uninvited, because “I thought there was a mutual attraction, and I wanted to take it further.”

Sargeant denies assaulting Goesling. Hooyerink denies encouraging Sargeant to go after Goesling.

The fact national media is not yet covering this story is a sad indication of where the business of journalism is going. Kimberly Goesling is enduring this trial at great personal cost and taking on a mega-corporation that has fought her all the way.

But where are the cameras? Where is the Associated Press? Based on a Google search, the AP is paying this story no mind. Where is the New York Times, supposed hotbed of #MeToo reporting? Paging Ronan Farrow.

Well, whatever happens, we’re watching.

As one commenter on a recent story of mine put it: Go get ’em, Kimberly.

P.S. So far we have a couple of interested emails and six claps on the comment about an upcoming documentary; thank you all for showing interest. We need more. I also need to know more about what people might say, what you witnessed, what you experienced. You can always reach me confidentially at MeTooAirlines@outlook.com

We will wait until the last possible minute to verify identification so that everyone can continue to feel safe sharing and protecting their own privacy until more ducks are in a row on a documentary and/or book.

P.P.S. Flight attendants are reportedly putting together a podcast about their experiences in the industry and I’m here for it. Yes! Light it up, air it out.

Please keep me posted so I can amplify and share here and on other social media channels, and so I can download it and listen! If anyone needs help or advice with publications, books, contacting other publications etc., ask me anytime.

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Sara Hammel

Journalist & author of THE STRONG ONES, FAMOUS LAST WORDS and THE UNDERDOGS https://www.sarahammelbooks.com