DOCUMENT: Crime

Airport Brassiere Search Prompts Lawsuit

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Airport Brassiere Search Prompts Lawsuit

APRIL 18--After her underwire bra set off an airport metal detector, a Northwest Airlines flight attendant claims she was subjected to an improper and invasive search that ended with her having to partially undress and provide security screeners with the suspicious undergarment. In a federal lawsuit filed Wednesday, Collene Sheeran, 34, claims that the episode last August at Boston's Logan Airport left her suffering from emotional distress, for which she is seeking unspecified damages from the Massachusetts Port Authority and a Logan security outfit. According to Sheeran's complaint (a key excerpt of which is below), she became so humiliated during the over-aggressive body search that she tried to leave the airport, but security officials would not allow her to depart. (8 pages)