A judge denied a motion for a default judgment of more than $500,000 brought against an adult film actress by a flight attendant who alleges the defendant went berserk and assaulted her on a Delta flight from Atlanta to Los Angeles in 2015.
However, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Marc Gross said in his March 23 ruling that plaintiff Jill Buice can bring the motion again if she adequately addresses issues he raised in his decision.
Buice is seeking $500,000 in special damages and $21,450 in special damages from Tory Lane, whose real name is Lisa Nicole Piasecki, on allegations of assault, battery, negligence and both intentional and negligent infliction of emotional distress. Buice sued Lane in August 2016.
The special damages consist of about $18,160 in lost earnings and $3,385 in medical expenses. Gross said Buice gave sufficient information to support her medical damages claim, but not her lost earnings request. He said he was offered no details on the number of work days missed or the value of those missed days.
Gross also said the $500,000 demand is unclear as to whether it pertains to her emotional distress and/or her punitive damages.
“To the extent pain and suffering and emotional distress are at issue, the court finds the request excessive,” Gross wrote.
The judge said Buice will have to document Lane’s net worth in order to obtain punitive damages.
According to the suit, both Buice and Lane were aboard Delta flight 17 on Feb. 18, 2015, when Lane began yelling at two young girls seated near her.
Buice and another flight attendant tried to calm Lane, but she responded by yelling profanities and flailing her hands around, the suit alleges.
Buice appeared to have calmed Lane down and tried to shake hands with the defendant, but Lane “balled her right hand into a fist” and dug her nails into the skin of the plaintiff’s hand, according to the suit.
“She then violently swung the combined hands upwards, striking plaintiff on the right side of her face,” the suit alleges.
Lane continued to yell profanities and assault the crew until the plane landed and she was escorted from the aircraft by Los Angeles police, according to the plaintiff’s court papers.
Buice, who lives in Georgia, says she suffered deep lacerations and bruising to both hands, bruises to her right cheek, an injured jaw and psychological trauma. She had to miss numerous days of work and still cannot chew food without feeling pain, according to her lawsuit.