Ex-flight attendant is suing Spirit over alleged racial discrimination

A former Spirit Airways flight attendant is now suing the corporate after claiming she was discriminated in opposition to and unfairly fired as a result of she was too chubby to strap herself into her bounce seat. African-American Chelsia Blackmon (pictured) claims she was the sufferer of racial discrimination after a white colleague, who she mentioned additionally could not “match” within the bounce seat and buckle her belt, was in a position to preserve her job after the possibility given to drop a few pounds.

Though the airline doesn’t have a specified weight restrict for flight attendants, they need to have the ability to match and buckle up within the rumble seat for security causes. On social media, some have recommended that ladies as much as no less than dimension 18 with a waist of round 40 inches would simply match within the rumble seat on most airliners.

Blackmon’s criticism, filed final month in Florida, the place Spirit relies, notes that she had accomplished and handed all coaching and compliance protocols, together with being buckled right into a bounce seat with a four-point seat belt. Blackmon, who hails from Houston, Texas, says she has efficiently confirmed she will be able to buckle into the varied bounce seats and harnesses used on Spirit’s Airbus A320 sequence plane and has flown a number of flights with no issues . It was solely after engaged on an Airbus A319 flight on September 3, 2021 that she discovered that she couldn’t buckle into the bounce seat attributable to her dimension.

She was not allowed to make use of an extension belt and was ordered to exit the aircraft. Blackmon was instantly positioned on administrative go away earlier than a gathering was held to debate their future. In keeping with the criticism, on the assembly she was requested to exhibit that she was in a position to buckle herself correctly right into a rumble seat. The next month, in October 2021, Blackmon once more needed to strap herself right into a bounce seat to work on an airplane, however discovered it was once more too small for her.

Shortly thereafter, she was suspended from responsibility and fired in November for not becoming the seat. In court docket paperwork, Blackmon instantly accuses Spirit of racial discrimination, noting {that a} white flight attendant who had simply began with the airline confronted the identical bounce seat difficulty, however was given it a number of months earlier than being requested to show she was on might “match” the seat. In keeping with the criticism, she suffered “lack of wages, damages, psychological anguish and struggling” due to “discriminatory and illegal unequal therapy primarily based on her race”.

The previous flight attendant mentioned the airline’s actions had been “willful and malicious and in reckless disregard for his or her civil rights.” The lawsuit would not clarify whether or not Blackmon gained further weight after finishing her coaching class or whether or not she believes some jumpseat straps had been smaller than supposed. Blackmon is searching for again wages, damages, compensatory damages and authorized charges by jury.

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