Fasten your seatbelts and put your tray tables in an upright position! It’s a high-flying he said-she said.
Turbulence has hit the skies surrounding tech billionaire Peter Thiel after a flight attendant accused the investor’s husband, Matt Danzeisen, of “violently” throwing cooler bags at her aboard the couple’s private jet — with her attorney accusing the wealthy pair of “bullying” their client.
Danzeisen’s team is claiming “extortion” and says that if a “soft fabric cooler bag,” did “brush” her leg, it was an accident — with his attorney blasting the accusations as a high-altitude “shakedown.”
In a counterclaim filed July 7 in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, flight attendant Stefanie Bojar alleges that Danzeisen — the Head of Private Investments at Thiel Capital — injured her on a July 27, 2024, flight from Sun Valley, Idaho, to Washington, D.C.
According to the suit, the financier allegedly became angry when a bathroom was being used to “store several heavy cooler bags and kitchen equipment provided by the private chef,” and “was temporarily obstructed.”
Danzeisen “demanded immediate access,” according to papers. As Bojar “dragged two heavy cooler bags into the aisle and placed them to her right, Danzeisen abruptly shoved her aside and, in a violent outburst, began throwing the cooler bags directly at her,” says the suit.
In a dramatic description, Bojar claims that the bags hit “her left ankle, foot and leg, and causing her to lose her balance, fall backward against the cabin wall, and collapse to the floor.” She additionally claims he “also threw a grocery bag containing food and beverages, causing food to spill across the cabin.”
According to the lawsuit, the alleged incident unfolded in front of Thiel — who is worth an estimated $27.5 billion— the couple’s nanny, their three children and the aircraft’s captain.
Bojar goes on to allege that he entered the bathroom with his child and that she “was left lying on the floor in pain and in tears, humiliated in front of multiple witnesses and terrified that Danzeisen would emerge from the lavatory and attack her again.”
Bojar’s filing comes in response to a lawsuit Danzeisen filed against her for breach of contract and declaratory relief in May, claiming Bojar “has waged a campaign to extort” him and Thiel, “seeking millions because a soft fabric cooler bag allegedly made contact with her leg during a flight nearly two years ago.”
According to Danzeisen’s suit, in order to “make way so his child could use the restroom before having an accident, Mr. Danzeisen moved the cooler bags out of the front lavatory as Ms. Bojar stood nearby,” claiming no one saw her hit and that Bojar “fabricated,” the story.
Danzeisen suit claims that “Each witness gave the same answer: if a bag brushed her leg, it was a pure accident.”
The papers also claim Bojar “launched a defamation campaign against her targets to exert pressure on them,” “spread false rumors,” and that by “even divulging the name of her passengers, let alone what allegedly occurred on flights, breached the confidentiality agreement she had signed.”
The suit also alleges that Bojar sent “a demand letter, expressly threatening to sue Mr. Danzeisen and the Company for civil claims that exposed them to millions in potential damages.”
The suit claims that “Mr. Danzeisen requires court intervention to put an end to Ms. Bojar’s shakedown.”
According to the papers, Bojar also filed a workers’ compensation claim for the “accident against the aircraft management company” she worked for and “has collected six figures and counting.”
“It’s our position that this is an unfortunate situation where we see the other side weaponizing the legal system to intimidate our client and put pressure on Stefanie,” Elliott Jung from HHJ Trial Attorneys tells us. “We have dealt with people of notoriety and celebrities in the past and they use these exact type of bullying tactics to scare victims. Sometimes it works and this is not one of those times. They look at her as a flight attendant with no resources and thought they could scare her by filing this unmeritorious lawsuit against her.”
Following the flight, Bojar claims she sought medical care and was allegedly diagnosed with a “longitudinal split tear of the peroneus brevis tendon of the left ankle,” and “ultimately required left ankle surgery.”
She also claims “injuries to her lumbar spine and to her left lower extremity, including her left knee, ankle, and foot,” that has require ongoing treatment ” for which she has required ongoing orthopedic treatment, “as well as severe psychological injury.” She also claims to be “unable to return to her career as a flight attendant.”
In her counterclaim, Bojar denies characterizations that she is attempting “extort” and “shakedown,” the couple.
Bojar — who was employed by the couple since 2022 and has flown more than 200 flight with them — also claims she was “subjected to repeated verbal abuse and humiliation by Danzeisen during her assignments,” and that he “routinely yelled,” “belittled her, and created a hostile and intimidating environment.”
