By James McNair
Enquirer staff writer

A former Atlantic Coast Airlines flight attendant who alleges she was raped by a pilot during a June 2002 layover has filed a civil lawsuit seeking unspecified damages from the company and its business partner, Delta Air Lines.

The woman, who lives in Washingtonville, N.Y., filed the claim in federal court in Covington, naming Atlantic Coast - now operating as Independence Air - Delta and pilot Cedric Subrenat of LaGrange, Ill., as defendants.

The suit filed by Covington lawyers Barbara Bonar and Benita Fields Land accuses the defendants of sexual harassment, sex discrimination and retaliation.

The woman says she was fired after taking six weeks off under the Federal Medical Leave Act.

Subrenat, still a pilot with Independence Air, has an unlisted telephone number and could not be reached for comment.

Rick DeLisi, a spokesman for the Dulles, Va., airline, denied the allegations.

"We intend to vigorously defend ourselves in a court of law," he said.

A Delta spokeswoman could not be reached Wednesday for comment.

According to the lawsuit, the woman did not bring the incident to her boss' attention until Jan. 27, 2003. During the preceding week, she said, she had been called into a disciplinary meeting over an unspecified November 2002 "incident" and was written up for being late to work Nov. 28, 2002. Four days after reporting the alleged rape, she said, she was put on leave pending the investigation of two passenger complaints against her.

The woman said she was fired Feb. 6, 2003. Last November, she filed a discrimination complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and received a right-to-sue notice May 10.

In the lawsuit, the woman said "certain pilots had a propensity towards sexually assaulting flight attendants."

The airlines condoned the behavior, she said, and continued to employ the pilots. The woman never filed criminal charges.

Independence Air is a Delta Connection partner.

E-mail jmcnair@enquirer.com