In a lawsuit filed against the airline, two United Airlines flight attendants contend that they were wrongfully fired from LA Dodgers charter flights and replaced by “young, White, thin women.”
The discrimination case filed by United FA
Darby Quezada, 44, and Dawn Todd, 50, the two flight attendants, filed the lawsuit in Los Angeles County Superior Court on Wednesday. Todd, who is Black, and Quezada, who is Black, Jewish, and Mexican, feel that their age, appearance, colour, and religious background are the reasons why they were removed from the charter flight duties.
The two cabin crew members filed a lawsuit alleging that they were informed that “these White flight attendants fit a ‘certain look’ that the Dodgers’ players liked” when they questioned United about why specific flight attendants were working the flights even though they had not applied for the jobs.
Quazeda claims that other flight attendants made “unrelenting racist and antisemitic comments” to her, including calling her a “flight maid” and saying that they “needed a Mexican to clean the bathrooms,” in addition to making insulting remarks about her size and Jewish ancestry.
Todd claims that after protesting about the demotion and denial of benefits to Black flight attendants, she was subjected to reprisals. Both claim that United management disregarded their attempts to bring up the issues.
Prior litigation resolution
A discrimination lawsuit was filed against United Airlines in the past in 2020 over staffing decisions made on athletic charter flights. Indeed, as their attorney Yebri puts it, Quezada and Todd’s inclusion on the charter aircraft list resulted from the settlement of this initial case. Todd was added to the roster in 2022, although Quezada was chosen for the charter flights in 2020.
The LA Dodgers charter flights are highly sought-after, as a Los Angeles Daily News story noted. The assignment offers more money for longer flights, better per diem compensation, and even other benefits like free sports tickets and field passes.
The LA Dodgers and United began their cooperation in 2011 and United now transports the team to away games every season. As of earlier this year, the Dodgers have now partnered with Taiwanese carrier Starlux.
