HOUSTON—The wife of renowned evangelical pastor Joel Osteen acted like a diva who became combative when her demands that a small spill on her seat be cleaned up were not immediately met, a flight attendant testified Thursday.
The testimony came during the civil trial of a lawsuit that accuses Victoria Osteen, the co-pastor of Houston’s popular Lakewood Church, of assaulting another flight attendant before the start of a 2005 flight to Vail, Colo.
Continental Airlines flight attendant Sharon Brown alleges Victoria Osteen threw her against a bathroom door and elbowed her in the left breast during an angry outburst over some spilled liquid on her first-class seat.
Maria Johnson, another flight attendant on the plane, spent nearly all of her three hours on the witness stand describing how Victoria Osteen demanded special attention to clean up a small spill. When she didn’t get her way, Victoria Osteen became verbally and physically abusive to both flight attendants, eventually grabbing Brown by the shoulders and pushing her out of the way in an attempt to get into the cockpit, Johnson testified.
But just before her testimony concluded, Johnson suggested race might have played a part in the incident because of remarks Victoria Osteen made about only wanting to deal with Johnson, who is white, and not with either Brown or a third flight attendant on the plane, who are black.
Rusty Hardin, Victoria Osteen’s attorney, accused Johnson and Brown’s attorney, Reginald McKamie, of playing the race card.
“Don’t you call race and get upset with me being loud,” an angry Hardin told McKamie in court. Hardin condemned Johnson’s claim and pointed out to jurors the racial diversity of Lakewood Church’s congregation.
Outside of court, McKamie denied playing the race card.
When pressed by Hardin, Johnson seemed to backtrack somewhat
“I don’t believe it was a racist statement sir,” she said. “The way it came across to me was that way.”
Joel and Victoria Osteen, who sat at the defendant’s table with their attorneys, had no visible reaction to Johnson’s claim.
Earlier in the day during his opening statements in the trial, Hardin called the lawsuit a money grab.
“This is nothing more than an attempted extortion,” Hardin told jurors during opening statements in the civil trial in which he said his client did nothing wrong.
During his questioning of Johnson, Hardin suggested that she and Brown might have overreacted or that Johnson might have misremembered what actually happened.
McKamie told jurors during his opening statement that his client was simply doing her job.
“Sharon was attacked by someone in the community who supposedly represents a higher degree of human decency,” he said.
Brown’s suit claims the flight attendants asked to have Victoria Osteen removed from the plane. Hardin told jurors Victoria Osteen and her family left voluntarily. The incident delayed the flight about 2 1/2 hours.
Hardin admitted that Victoria Osteen can be a “very excitable and expressive person,” but that she was never out of control.
“Victoria Osteen never attacked her, never tried to get in the cockpit,” Hardin said. “The aggressor and the person who was out of control, who flipped out, was Ms. Brown.”
About 42,000 people attend several services at Lakewood Church every week to hear Joel Osteen, whose weekly television address is broadcast nationally and internationally and whose books have been sold across the globe. Services are held at a 16,000-seat facility that was formerly the Houston Rockets’ basketball arena.
The Osteens were both expected to testify during the trial.
Brown wants an apology and punitive damages amounting to 10 percent of Victoria Osteen’s net worth as part of her suit.
“They will say this is about money. But that is the only remedy a jury can offer,” McKamie said.
McKamie said Brown, who had undergone reconstructive surgery before the incident on her breasts due to illness, was injured when she was hit on her chest. Shayna Lee, Brown’s psychiatrist, said the flight attendant has suffered depression and post-traumatic stress disorder because of the incident. Brown also felt disrespected in her role as a leader and as a black woman and had her faith affected, Lee said. Brown is also suing Victoria Osteen for medical expenses for counseling.
But Hardin told jurors there is no evidence Brown sustained any injuries, including claims she now suffers from hemorrhoids.
The Federal Aviation Administration fined Victoria Osteen $3,000 for interfering with a crew member.
Hardin told jurors Victoria Osteen paid the FAA fine not because she was guilty but as a way to conclude the matter and avoid any embarrassment for her church.
