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Ashley Barno was in a boarding area at San Diego International Airport, awaiting a Chicago-bound flight, when a message from an unfamiliar number flashed across her phone, saying hello and asking how she was doing.

The person then added, “Btw I must tell you that you are gorgeous!”

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Barno thanked the sender for the flattery and asked again for his name. How had he gotten her number, she asked, and why was he texting her?

“You guess!!” he told her, adding that he worked for American Airlines, which was operating the flight Barno was waiting to board.

“I just saw you at the airport again!” he wrote, telling her in a later message: “you are looking very gorgeous in grey top today!!”

Barno, clad in a gray shirt, looked around the gate area, glancing over her shoulder. She was scared.

The disturbing encounter, which occurred in April and unfolded over more than 100 text messages that were later shared with The Washington Post, spurred a lawsuit against the airline and its employee over allegations of negligent hiring, sexual harassment and stalking. The interaction has left Barno reeling more than eight months later, nervous when she travels and sometimes fearful she’s being watched, her attorney, Joseph Samo, said in an interview.