HOUSTON -- A woman plans to sue an airline on allegations that a man performed a sex act near her, KPRC Local 2 reported Thursday.

Centava Dozier said the incident happened on a flight from Houston to Los Angeles with a stop in Dallas during spring break in 2006.

Dozier said she was napping in her seat in an empty row when she woke up and the man was sitting near her masturbating.

"He was just staring at me," Dozier said. "I was completely terrified. I was scared. I was crying."

She filed a police report, investigators collected evidence from her hair and the man was arrested. She said the incident troubled her so much that she had to leave her job and school.

Dozier said the flight's cabin crew did not do anything to prevent the incident.

"If you're a flight attendant, you're supposed to be moving about the cabin, making sure everybody's safe," Dozier said. "I really feel like American Airlines plays a big role in what happened to me."

An American Airlines spokesperson said the company regrets the incident took place and that the flight crew took the appropriate action.

"We have been in contact multiple times with Ms. Dozier through her law firm since November 2006," read a statement from American Airlines. "American believes their demand of $750,000 is unwarranted."

Dozier's lawyer said they plan to file a lawsuit because the cabin crew should have kept the man in his assigned seat and should have seen what was happening.

"I think had someone been doing exactly what it is they're supposed to do, then there's no way this guy would have felt comfortable enough to prey on her like he did," attorney Byron O'Neal said.