Two long-serving United Airlines flight attendants, Dawn Todd, 50, and Darby Quezada, 44, have taken legal action against the company. They allege that they faced discrimination on the grounds of their race, age, religion, and appearance.
According to NPR, the former United employees filed the lawsuit on October 25 in Los Angeles County Superior Court. The flight attendants claim that United Airlines deliberately excluded them from working on charter flights for the Los Angeles Dodgers. They are a highly sought-after and competitive position among United’s flight attendants. The airline purportedly replaced them with attendants who matched a particular visual criteria.
In their 22-page lawsuit, Todd and Quezada are seeking a jury trial and unspecified damages. They both have more than 15 years of experience with United Airlines. The suit specifically points out that Todd is Black, while Quezada has Mexican, Black, and Jewish heritage. It goes on to claim that United Airlines selected attendants by some standards. They should be typically young, white, female, with blond hair and blue eyes, according to the lawsuit obtained by NPR.
The lawsuit also asserts that the airline’s white employees overtly engaged in discriminatory practices towards their minority colleagues on charter flights. Todd and Quezada had strived for over a decade to be part of the program that staffs the Dodgers’ flights. They are lucrative opportunities for attendants due to their longer flight durations.
“Plaintiffs had the necessary experience and qualifications… but their requests were dismissed and rejected because Plaintiffs were not white,” the lawsuit alleges.
Financial Harm Caused by United
The legal action also highlights instances where United employees and management derogatorily referred to Todd and Quezada as “maids.” Quezada claimed she was once labeled a maid because the group required “a Mexican to clean the bathrooms.” She also alleged that the company has instructed her to not speak Spanish with a Dodgers player.
Todd claimed that United employees and management threatened to spill hot coffee and tea on her. They routinely ignored and belittled her during meetings and flights. Since her demotion, Todd has faced “financial harm” because she had to keep her schedule open for “random” charter flight assignments. Therefore, she missed out on additional earnings she would typically make on regular United flights.
The lawsuit emphasized the severe implications of staffing decisions by major U.S. corporations like United, irrespective of an employee’s race, age, or physical appearance. Sam Yebri, the attorney representing Todd and Quezada, pointed out that United’s discriminatory staffing decisions allowed racism and antisemitism to thrive on the flights themselves.
Notably, the Los Angeles Dodgers are not named as defendants in the lawsuit. They have also declined to comment on the pending litigation. United Airlines, on the other hand, firmly denies the legitimacy of the claims in the lawsuit. The company asserts that it fosters an inclusive environment and does not tolerate any form of discrimination. The airline intends to vigorously defend itself against these allegations.
United Airlines has faced prior accusations of discrimination. In 2020, the airline was the subject of a lawsuit alleging discrimination against Black and Jewish flight attendants who worked on the airline’s athletic teams’ charter flights.