The OP did state that the cleaner confessed to the police

 

Welcome to FlyerTalk.

I know one time when my wallet was stolen and I recovered it minus the cash, the police told me the only way I could prove the issue is if I had written the serial numbers of the bills and could offer them.

Was the cleaner in fact an employee under the supervision and control of American Airlines, or the employee of a contractor?

I’m failing to see any remedy due from AA here, personally.

 

You don't know this. Just because someone who likely makes minimum wage found and kept cash in a seat pocket does not mean that same person would have a criminal record. Also, AA offered you $100. That seems very generous given the circumstances.

 

I may have misread the post but I thought the cleaner confessed to the attempt to use one of the cards --

From the OP

"they tried to make a purchase with my card, the police investigated, and when confronted with the evidence that the attempted purchase matched the name and address of the cleaning crew person, they confessed to the officer on record."

This sounds like an attempt to purchase something online -- why else would there be an address for the cleaning person?

 

Just out of curiosity, why can't your wallet stay in your jeans if you're flying international?

 

I read it that the cleaner confessed to stealing the waller , which would implicittly cover any contents of the wallet. Unless the person confessed to an amount of money stolen, I don't think that recovery chances are high - but wouldn't class it as impossible that the person gave full details about the theft.

The OP shoudl know what was formally admitted and be able to take action accordingly

 

If I have the misfortune to be on an overnight flight, then items in pockets make lying down and sleeping more uncomfortable.

 

It can be uncomfortable to lie down and sleep with a big wallet in your pants.

I once left my wallet in a little “cubby” in the inside armrest of a first class seat (this was on Continental). Again, sitting on a long flight (I think it was LAS-EWR), I don’t want to keep my wallet in my pants for comfort reasons. I think I realized shortly after deplaning but it was too late.
Anyway, the wallet turned up at lost & found a day or two later and CO mailed it to me at my expense. Of course the cash was missing, but everything else intact. I think that’s more the SOP. Kind of idiotic for the cleaning person to attempt to use the credit card, moreso for an online purchase with his address. 🤦‍♂️

I suppose OP could try to take AA to court (small claims), but I would think the chance of winning is quite small. Take the voucher and take responsibility.

 

IANAL, so hoping one can maybe chime in on this, but generally why wouldn’t the company have any liability for the performance of its contractors? Aren’t they acting as agents of AA in this case? With that being said, I’m assuming that there is an agreement between the 2 firms assigning liability with one in the event of criminal activity.

 

how much cash was supposedly in the wallet? how much was the wallet supposedly worth?

 

I think they would, but probably not in this situation. AA was not a "bailee" in that they didn't accept custody of the OP's wallet. The OP essentially abandoned his item in the seatback pocket where there was no agreement for AA to safeguard it. If the cleaning contractor inadvertently tripped the OP and caused him bodily harm as he was deplaning, AA and the contractor would absolutely have some liability.

I had something similar happen to me 20+ years ago - left my wallet in the cupholder of a Hertz rental at LAS. Realized it about 10 min later, went back, the vehicle was still in the line to be cleaned/processed, but my wallet was missing. Called to cancel the credit cards and one of them (Chevron card) was already used. Lesson learned. I also thought the cleaning crews at rental agencies and airplanes must have an abundance of lost items - I've known a few people who left iPads on airplanes in the seatback pocket and they've never turned up. Either they're being tossed out or someone seems to know how to fence them.

 

You'd probably have a greater success of following up with the cleaning contractor that AA uses. After all the contractor was responsible for that employee. AA in good faith gave you a voucher I wouldn't expect anything else, especially an admission of guilt.

 

I assume anything I leave on board is gone. I'm on like my 6th Kindle.

 

I am a little curious why the cleaner isn’t facing criminal charges for credit card fraud, but only lost their job?

Or was this implied but not stated?