4 Flight Attendants Sue Delta Over ‘Anti-Jewish’ Bias On Israel Flights
Graphic by Angelie Zaslavsky
(JTA) — Four current and former flight attendants have filed a lawsuit against Delta Air Lines alleging that the airline’s management has “an anti-Jewish, Hebrew and ethnic Israeli attitude.”
The lawsuit was filed against Delta on Tuesday in United States District Court, Southern District of New York, located in Westchester County. All of the plaintiffs worked on the airline’s New York – Tel Aviv route. Two of them are Jewish and two say there were disciplined or subjected to a hostile work environment for their association with Jewish flight attendants and passengers, attorney Brian Mildenberg said in a statement issued Tuesday.
The plaintiffs allege in the lawsuit that Delta management “through words and deeds, operate under an express assumption that ethnic Jews and Israelis, as employees and passengers, cannot be trusted, are aggressive and inappropriate, and engage in what are deemed to be “strange” behaviors by conducting prayers on the flight and requiring special dietary accommodations (kosher meals).”
The lawsuit also alleges that Delta has punished Jewish and other flight attendants, including with suspension or termination, for legally sharing their companion travel passes with Jewish individuals who fly to Tel Aviv “solely on the basis of their Jewish and Israel ethnicity and ancestry.”
Delta responded in a statement that it “strongly condemns the allegations of discrimination described in this suit and will defend itself vigorously against them.”
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