Detroit woman suing N.C. pastor who peed on her on plane in multimillion dollar lawsuit

A Detroit woman has sued a North Carolina pastor and his church in a multi-million dollar lawsuit after he urinated on her while on an airplane earlier this month, according to court documents. 

Alicia Beverly, 25, hired attorney Geoffrey Fieger to sue the Raleigh pastor and the church he works with  for over $2 million after he peed on her while she was asleep on a Delta flight from Las Vegas to Detroit on October 13. 

Fieger claims that the pastor had a blood alcohol content above .17 when he was taken into custody by Detroit police when the plane landed. In Michigan, it is illegal to drive with a BAC of .08 or higher.

“It is difficult to believe that a church would hire a Pastor who boarded a plane drunk and has a proclivity to urinate on passengers. Considering the times we are living in, nothing surprises me anymore," Fieger said in a statement announcing the lawsuit Thursday. 

According to the lawsuit that was filed with the Wayne County Circuit Court, the pastor is being sued for committing acts of negligence, gross negligence, willful and wanton misconduct, sexual assault and battery and infliction of emotional distress against Beverly.  

The lawsuit also states that the church is being sued for negligent hiring, training, supervision and/ or intervention and vicarious liability. The lawsuit claims that the church "owed duties to the general public to properly hire, train and retain employees that could perform their job duties in a non-negligent manner and refrain from injuring the public."

According to the lawsuit, Beverly has suffered from severe emotional and mental distress, anxiety, fright, shock, humiliation, grief, embarrassment, mortification and inability to experience social pleasures and enjoyment. 

Beverly, who was on the flight with her sister, put a mask over her eyes and went to sleep shortly after takeoff. About 45 minutes into the flight, Beverly felt something warm touching her and woke up.

When Beverly opened her eyes, she saw the pastor standing next to her with his pants unzipped and his penis out, the lawsuit states. Beverly screamed and an off-duty officer restrained him. 

Another church in the Raleigh area where the man was a non-pastor employee has since accepted his resignation, according to a Facebook post. 

"We take these matters very seriously," the post from Catch The Fire Raleigh-Durham said. "This behavior is not a reflection of Catch The Fire, our leadership, and its members."

The Facebook, Twitter and Instagram pages for the pastor's church were all deleted or shut down Thursday. A request for comment was not immediately returned.