A Delta Air Lines flight attendant who was sacked for sharing a controversial political cartoon on Facebook about former President Donald Trump is now suing Delta, claiming racial discrimination.
Delta Flight Attendant Suing For Racial Discrimination After Being Fired For Sharing Trump KKK Political Cartoon
Former Delta flight attendant Leondra Taylor shared the following image on her Facebook page:
In the cartoon, Trump is pictured wearing a Ku Klux Klan hood at a debate with President Joe Biden moderated by Chris Wallace with the caption, “Thank You Mr. President, For Wearing Your Mask.”
As we’ve discussed before, Delta has a strict policy regulating social media use. In 2020, flight attendant Kevin Lee Jennings left the company after posting a series of controversial tweets, including:
“My employer, Atlanta’s hometown airline is in a massive crises because of a virus that has taken the lives of 40 people. How many were killed in Chicago during the same time frame?”
or
“I see plenty of scrawny black anarchists out there too. And none of them are social distancing or really wearing masks to prevent the spread of Covid-19. I have numerous white friends who live on Lake Street in MSP, BTW, it’s their neighborhood too.”
> Read More: Was Feisty Delta Flight Attendant Forced Out For Conservative Tweets?
Jennings was such a high profile flight attendant that her departure prompted a memo from Delta CEO Ed Bastian on proper employee social media use:
“I want to make it clear that Delta’s workplace must remain safe and welcoming for all Delta people. We will not tolerate racist, bigoted or hateful acts or statements in our workspaces or directed at our people…
“This includes racial and other bigoted, hateful and offensive comments on social media by Delta people, which hurts our culture and our people.”
Interestingly, Taylor had been one of the flight attendants who had vocally called out and even assisted Delta in trying to throw another flight attendant over social media use. But then Delta started digging through her own social media accounts.
Her lawsuit, which claims non-black employees were not subjected to termination for similar posts, also denies that the controversial cartoon was disrespectful, hateful, or discriminatory. According to the lawsuit:
“In fact, her post was quite the opposite. It simultaneously made a statement about Trump’s denial of the need for COVID protective measures, and that racial discrimination against African Americans was a systemic issue starting at the top, with the then president.”
All this, while important, is secondary to me. The questions we need to be asking are 1.) whether there was a link between her Facebook account and her employment with Delta and 2.) whether other employees were treated differently than her on the basis of race. Were there pictures of her in uniform or on Delta aircraft in the same Facebook account? Were other employees not punished for posting the same or similar cartoons?
A Delta spokesperson shared:
“When Delta employees intermix Delta’s brand with conduct or content that does not reflect our values of professionalism, inclusion and respect, that conduct can result in discipline or termination.
“While personnel issues are considered private between Delta and its employees, the circumstances described by our former employee are not an accurate or complete explanation of the company’s termination decision.”
My guess is that Taylor will lose her lawsuit unless she can find numerous examples of non-black employees having mixed work with politics in a similar matter who were not punished. She seems to have violated Delta’s social media policy and her statements trying to downplay the incendiary nature of the cartoon will fall upon deaf ears.
But that doesn’t mean I like what happened to her. Spare me the outrage over the cartoon…it makes an incendiary but important point in our political dialogue. It’s the sort of speech that should be protected…and I say the same thing about Jennings’ political speech.
I’m against most efforts to censor or punish political speech that is uncomfortable or controversial. Sometimes, we need to have difficult conversations and political cartoons have long served as a catalyst for such discussion.
Even though Taylor seems to have violated Delta’s social media policy, it’s a bad policy in the first place. There’s a difference, however, between a bad policy and a legal policy.
You can read Taylor’s complaint here.
CONCLUSION
A black Delta flight attendant is suing for racial discrimination after she was terminated for sharing an anti-Trump political cartoon. She claims non-black employees were not punished as harshly. If she can prove that, she certainly has a case, but to me the more important issue is that Delta is terminating employees for expressing the sort of political discussion that marks a vibrant republic.
Delta is full of non white employees. It would be hard to prove racial discrimination.
Now if the leadership was all white males and they had no programs to cultivate leadership from other people that would be convincing for that narrow focus.
More importantly, was her post accurate? Yes. Pretty much a factual representation.
So I can say: “Stuart is pretty much a murderer.” Does this mean you’ve ever killed someone? Have you? Have you ever seen Mr. Trump at a klan rally? When? Where? Your hero Brandon even gave the eulogy at Robert Byrd’s funeral…..someone who actually WAS in the klan. I Brandon now and Klansman too? You see, equity to you wokies means never being held accountable for your actions…..just as this woman expected…..because she’s black. Well, she ratted out another Delta employee for a similar post on social media….and that person was terminated. I like to call this: “Live by the sword, die by sword.
Who is Brandon?
A champion bicyclist.
So why is he in this discussion?
….and truck driver.
Brandon?? Are you kidding me? Grow up you pathetic excuse for an American.
LOL…you just can’t hold back your racism can you ‘chris’?!! You and your fellow Trump followers are so transparent to everyone except yourselves. Keep it up and you’ll end up in jail like the Trump and the rest of the morons who follow him.
democrats and people who support that pedophile biden are pathetic excuses for Americans.
We’re the majority, not you.
Jan 6th protestors were heroes.
Wow, denial isn’t just a river in Egypt…
Well finally someone speaking common sense! I am so sick of these ridiculous “ free speech” cartoons, memes. Etc
If EVER things like this were posted of ANY other President the person posting , writing would be fired and all the media and Americans would be behind them being fired. President Trump in the cartoon is “ factual” really? That is the insane narrative that continues today. It’s a dang shame there is zero respect for our presidency any more. People are NOT allowed to just say what they want, especially when you are to represent a company. Their image is their money maker and the people that work for them are to protect the company’s image, or move on!This is not rocket science people
Lefties are mentally ill.
The democrat party is the party of the KKK
Those are some strong drugs you are taking.
How quickly she played the race card! Everything is racist!!
The cartoon is ridicules if its aim is to say former President Trump has some KKK interest. In fact, blacks were never so well off as when Trump was president, as far as job opportu ity and economic advancement goes.
Until everyone lost their jobs during the trump presidency
Just be aware that there is NO FREEDOM OF SPEECH when you make a comment online. You are CENSORED and with your employer LOOKING AT YOU. And I/ we do appreciate the fact that this website has the option of comments. But Matthew Klint has to monitor it all… Thanks, Matthew!
(now I wish “The Points Guy” would have a comments section).
Desert Fox, where’s the proof of blacks being “never so we’ll off as when Trump was president?”
Joe Biden is the first mainstream white American who is articulate and bright and clean.
Your posts always make me laugh! Thank you!!
+1
She should have been fired for stupidity; using her own named Facebook account to post anything political, controversial or about the airlne. Given she assisted against another FA’s usage of social media, there is no leeway for not knowing the consequences. As for the actual posting, if was not offencive enough to warrant a firing so my guess is they were looking for something to get rid of her for other reasons.
Unless you are a lawyer I recommend you refrain from summarily “guessing” the outcome of this matter. It degrades your credibility.
I’m guessing you don’t know all of the facts and further guessing you do not know the law. A guess based on those two considerations is what some would call a WAG.
Thanks for the unsolicited advice…I’ll file it accordingly. I’ve read the complaint. Have you?
https://liveandletsfly.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/Taylor-v-Delta.pdf
Regardless of the content, methinks the author doesn’t take kindly to comments/opinions/speculation out of kilter with his own………
As a black democrat, I think it’s fair that Delta has a blanket policy on not allowing political posts. If they’ve fired people on the right for being a bigot, then it’s fair to fire those on the left who say equally equivalent things.
Since this is a rather political post, I’m going to add my two cents. I’m tired of people on the left complaining about the right when they’re equally bigoted. Like, Kamala wiping her hand off after shaking the Korean president’s hand at the time last year or Joe Biden with his history of racism. There are bad people on both sides, and we have to call this stuff out equally. I despise Trump but you can’t call him a Klan member or a white supremacist when he’s denounced the Klan multiple times and made efforts to work with the Black community (i.e working with Ice Cube’s Platinum Plan even though Joe and Kamala rejected Ice Cube just for an example).
You’re about as much of a black democrat as Trump is.
Trump denouncing the KKK? Lol ok.
the democrat party is the party of the KKK
Just because you don’t like facts doesn’t mean you can deny who I am. I’m a Black man who grew up in the hood and am now on Wall Street while you’re some miser living in the basement of your parents lmfao. You just proved my point you clown
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2017/08/14/trump-denounces-kkk-neo-nazis-as-justice-department-launches-civil-rights-probe-into-charlottesville-death/
It’s all performative, clown. From the article itself: “as he seeks to quell criticism of his response to Charlottesville”
So he kind of had to, not something he volunteered to do from the beginning.
Also, you are no more a black man on wall street than I am someone living in my parent’s basement. But hey, keep trying that good old right wing tactic of playing an anonymous marginalized person online whose bona fides can’t be proven to mask you nasty right wing views.
Here I am on 200 West Street in my office and I am thankful for every blessing I’ve been given, from being a scrawny black kid from Inglewood to get where I am today while you’re some sad white racist nobody who thinks that black people can’t think freely.
I feel so bad for you to be so washed to think that people like me exist out there. In your mind, you probably think that all black people should be poor and to suck up to your ideology you racist.
Mic Drop,
“Here I am on 200 West Street in my office and I am thankful for every blessing I’ve been given, from being a scrawny black kid from Inglewood to get where I am today while you’re some sad white racist nobody who thinks that black people can’t think freely.”
Oh, I know black people can think freely. I just don’t believe you are one of them.
“I feel so bad for you to be so washed to think that people like me exist out there.”
White people posing as marginalized groups online to push their alt-right agenda? Of course people like that (you) exist.
“In your mind, you probably think that all black people should be poor and to suck up to your ideology you racist.”
Nah.
“Mic Drop,”
I suppose that’s better than “Bye, Felcia’.
Black people love to play the victim. ITs instilled to them at a young age that they are the perpetual “victim”. The oppression delusion is a mental illness at this point.
Some people think that way but it’s more like “woke” white people claiming that black people are “oppressed” and them wailing that there’s still racism when they’re the real racists. Like @Aaron who thinks that I ain’t a black dem who’s on Wall Street because they live in their warped imagination
Nah boo, it’s actual black people who are claiming they are oppressed and that there is still racism.
You using “woke” as a pejorative word says all it needs to about you.
You’re about as much as a “black dem” as chad is.
You’re literally proving @Malik on Wall Street’s point you clown lmfao. You’re stupidity made my day, @Aaron
Not at all. Calling fake people out isn’t racism.
Also, “you’re” grammar is making mine.
More like a “Lack of freedom of speech.” But you can’t sue for that in America. America lacks freedom of speech.
Wow
Delta owns you when you are not at work?
Sounds like slavery to me.