A fight over access to a bathroom on a private jet used by Peter Thiel’s family has become a federal court battle involving alleged assault, a confidentiality agreement, workers’ compensation, and Thiel Capital.
Stefanie Bojar, a flight attendant employed by Solairus Aviation, says in a counterclaim that Matthew Danzeisen, Thiel’s husband and the head of private investments at Thiel Capital, shoved her and threw heavy cooler bags at her during a July 13, 2024, flight scheduled from Sun Valley, Idaho, to Washington, DC. Bojar alleges the impact knocked her into an aircraft wall and left her on the cabin floor with ankle and knee injuries.
Danzeisen denies that account. In his complaint, filed in May in the Central District of California’s Southern Division, he says he was clearing soft cooler bags from a bathroom so one of his children could use it. His filing says a bag may have brushed Bojar’s leg by accident.
Bojar had worked more than 200 flights for Thiel and Danzeisen, according to the filings. Solairus Aviation did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Two bathrooms, too much baggage
The dispute centers on a storage problem aboard the aircraft. According to Bojar’s counterclaim, one bathroom at the rear of the plane was blocked by luggage, while the forward bathroom held cooler bags with food and kitchen gear from a private chef. Bojar says a Thiel assistant told crew that the family’s luggage would come in two deliveries, disrupting the usual loading process, and that the crew had no ground help.
When Danzeisen asked for a restroom for one of his children, Bojar says the first officer told him the rear bathroom would take about five minutes to clear. Her filing says Danzeisen demanded access to the forward bathroom instead, became angry, pushed her aside, and threw multiple cooler bags that hit her left ankle, foot, and leg.
Bojar also alleges Danzeisen threw a grocery bag containing food and drinks, spilling food in the cabin, before entering the bathroom with the child. Her counterclaim says the captain pulled cooler bags off her while she was on the floor and that Thiel saw her immediately afterward.
Danzeisen’s complaint says the first officer and the family’s nanny were nearby and saw him kneeling at the bathroom, moving bags behind him. The complaint accuses Bojar of inventing the severity of the injury and says no one understood at the time that a bag may have touched her.
The legal fight now has two fronts
Danzeisen sued first after, he says, Bojar sent a demand letter. His complaint accuses her of trying to extort him and Thiel, violating a confidentiality agreement, and running a defamation campaign. It asks the court for actual and punitive damages and an order limiting what Bojar can say.
Bojar denies those allegations. Her counterclaim, filed Tuesday, adds Thiel Capital as a defendant and alleges battery, assault, emotional distress, and negligent supervision. She says Thiel Capital personnel helped coordinate the aviation account, knew or should have known about Danzeisen’s alleged conduct toward crew, and failed to intervene.
Elliott Jung, one of Bojar’s attorneys, called Danzeisen’s lawsuit a “bullying tactic” and said, “Just because you have wealth doesn’t mean that you have the right to just hurt people.”
Alex Spiro, an attorney for Danzeisen, said in a statement: “This is a shakedown about a bag that bumped into someone’s leg, and we do not pay out to shakedowns. So we will see everyone in court.”
Danzeisen’s filing also argues that Bojar sought and received workers’ compensation, making that system her exclusive remedy. Michael Duff, who teaches torts and workers’ compensation at Saint Louis University School of Law, said the issue likely depends on whether Danzeisen or Thiel Capital can be treated as Bojar’s employer. Workers’ compensation usually blocks suits against employers, Duff said, but not necessarily claims against third parties.
This story draws on original reporting from WIRED.
