A Carlsbad cancer survivor has filed a federal lawsuit claiming her constitutional rights were violated by an aggressive and painful airport pat-down search.
Adrienne Durso is suing the Transportation Safety Administration and the Department of Homeland Security claiming that her Fourth Amendment protection against unreasonable search was violated by a TSA officer at Albuquerque's Sunport Airport on Aug. 25.
According to the suit, Durso, a breast cancer survivor who recently underwent a mastectomy, was traveling with her son. After she passed through an airport metal detector, a TSA agent told her she would be required to undergo a pat-down.
Durso told the agent about her mastectomy. The agent then focused her search on area of the surgery, forcefully applying pressure to the sensitive area, according to the court filing. Durso reminded the agent of her operation, but the agent continued the aggressive, painful and prolonged pat-down, the suit said.
After the search, Durso complained to a TSA supervisor, who said all travelers are subjected to the same treatment. When her 17-year-old son asked why he wasn't given a pat-down, the supervisor said it was because he "didn't have boobs," according to court papers. Durso claims that she was almost in tears after the search and her treatment by the supervisor.
Durso is one of four plaintiffs in the suit, which was filed last week in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C. The other plaintiffs include a Kentucky man who claims the TSA gave him an aggressive and invasive pat-down of his genital, and a 12-year-old girl from Maryland who claims she was given a full-body scan without the knowledge or consent of her legal guardians.
The lawsuit asks the court to stop the TSA from using invasive scans and enhanced pat-downs as the primary means of screening air travelers and to award unspecified damages to Durso and the other plaintiffs.
