A passenger has accused a United employee of calling her a monkey. There were witnesses. Now the passenger is suing, creating a monumental headache for United.
There are certain code words that are so deeply linked to race that they cannot simply be called an insult. Words like “monkey” or “uppity” are so historically associated with marginalizing black people that the use of such words, especially when describing black Americans, is simply unacceptable in any context.
And yet that’s exactly what a United customer service agent in Houston recently called a black passenger when she complained about her canceled flight. Cacilie Hughes claimed the United agent Carmella Davano told Hughes to stop looking at her with her “monkey face” and proceeded to call her a “shining monkey”.
Even if the exchange became heated and Hughes was nasty to the United agent, there is no excuse for such language.
Other witnesses attempted to calm down Davano and Hughes asked another United agent to call the police. When that request was denied, she called the police herself.
The police issued a citation to Davano for disorderly conduct.
The Lawsuit
Here’s where it gets sticky. Hughes is suing and her lawyers are attacking United as a whole, not just Carmella Davano:
Unfortunately, the racism experienced by Cacilie was not an isolated incident with United Airlines, but part of a companywide pattern of racial discrimination. We are going to fight to enforce Cacilie Hughes’ civil rights, to ensure that United Airlines eliminates its practice of racial discrimination, and to ensure the ongoing criminal prosecution of United Airline’s racist employee Carmella. Racial slurs like ‘shining monkey’ should be relics of history, not resurrected to fuel the fire of racism faced by so many African Americans in today’s society and condoned on United Airlines flights.
Part of me just rolls my eyes. When was such behavior “condoned on United Airlines flights”? The incident took place on the ground and as we’ll see below, United quickly condemned the slur and has removed the employee from service.
Since there were witnesses, there is little doubt that Hughes was called a monkey. But to say that such action is condoned by United is simply slander.
Quite the contrary, United issued the following statement on the incident:
At United, we believe that the diversity of our workforce makes us stronger. Together, we proudly hold ourselves to the highest standards of professionalism and have zero tolerance for discrimination of any kind. This incident is deeply offensive and does not reflect the fundamental values of our company and our 90,000 employees. That is why we took immediate action to remove this individual from the job. Since then, we have been following all of the required procedures under this individual’s union contract and are actively pursuing termination.
Wow. That could not be clearer. There will be bad apples in an organization of 90,000 employees. That must be kept in context.
But United Is Not Off The Hook…
Even so, this incident should serve as a wake-up call to United. This isn’t the first incident in Houston. Remember that another United agent punched a senior citizen in 2015, knocking him unconscious (then sued him). That’s wasn’t racial, but it was horrific behavior.
I’ve asked my inside contacts to keep me apprised how United handles this matter internally. Will this be used as a teaching moment for all employees? Will United make clear to employees, as it PR team did in the statement above, that such action is punishable by immediate termination?
CONCLUSION
For a company that prides itself in seeking equality in accordance with the Zeitgeist of the era, this painful new allegation will test whether such commitment to inclusivity is a facade or simply failed to permeate to one bad apple.
I fly United enough to see that most employees are great; that most treat all passengers with basic respect. But while I’ve never witnessed any sort of racial hostility, I certainly see poor customer service from time to time. Sadly, one poisonous apple can spoil the entire crop. For an airline that has weathered many customer storms over the last couple of years (dragging passengers, killing dogs, etc), the last thing United needs now is to be branded as a racist airline.
Thus, it must continue to assert what it already has: that such behavior will not be tolerated. But it must do more than assert. It also must ensure that every employee is onboard and in full compliance.
The last names of the witnesses: Sharpton; Jackson; Smolett
So are you doubting this story? I do think that the victim is reaching by suing United, but are you saying that this verbal assault by the United employee never happened?
People in the south being racist? WHAT?! I am shocked. SHOCKED I say!
I thought she was threatening to sue if UA didn’t fire the agent.
And UA shortly after issued the statement above about firing the agent. So not clear she is actually filing.
Also – thought it was an issue on an arriving flight, where she was called from the tarmac by the agent. The details on that are murky.
Totally conjecture here, but once she’s gotten this far, there are attorney fees to cover. Without filing, there’s no chance at covering those fees. This train ain’t stopping.
Why didn’t UA speak out against Farrakahn using their logo and having his day of hate at the United Center?
https://thewinglet.boardingarea.com/why-is-united-airlines-promoting-louis-farrakhan-and-his-anti-lgbt-anti-semitic-agenda/
That woman passenger is big. Wasn’t the United agent afraid of getting punched and knocked to the ground?
This is the last straw. The racism of the globe as to go. Bring back the tulip!
My flight today with United was interesting. Not so much the flight but the check-in process. I checked-in using the computers. Didn’t realize that one of my checked bags was 52.5 lb (2.5 lb over the limit for non-heavy bags). Luckily I’m allowed upto 70 lb per bag due to my status with the airline. A contract worker for United first told me I would have to pay $200 extra for the bag. I protested that I’m allowed 70 lb per bag due to status. So he then asked me to move the contents to another bag. Luckily, a United employee heard the interaction and intervened. She told him to accept the bag as-is. Once the United employee moved away, he then proceeded to ask me for a tip as he had to lift the bag and put it on the conveyer belt right behind the desk. This is inside the airport at the Premier check-in counters. You can’t make this stuff up!
BTW, as a follow-up, the bag was broken. I had walked away from the counter but heard couple of slamming noises. Ofcourse, I can’t prove this was the same guy but it sounds too convenient to happen at the same time.
I am Asian American born in the US and fly to Asia frequently on United enough to be elite and know its plane’s seat maps by heart. On one my flights from Newark to Tokyo I watched as my cabin attendant impatiently treated all Asians on the flight, including myself, as dumb while hostilely demanding a quick answer from Asians while being gentle toned and patiently nice with person of her own race. A seniority cabin attendant can request a long haul international flight so I wonder why would this seemingly anti-asian attendant would be on a flight to Asia. Luckily, I never had this cabin attendant ever again.
I would like to know the name of the firm that’s on this case because the supervisor on the Cancun airport didn’t let me board my flight and had to stay 14 hours in the airport, when I confronted her next day after verifying with United that her actions and comments were out of place she kept referring to my husband as my friend. I filed a complaint with United and they’re answer is that they receive my complaint and that’s it.
Most of you all are racist as well. Obviously none of you ppl live with racist remarks being made towards you and if you ever had they are very isolated. Try living with this daily, not fun and extremely hurtful.
With the virus going around now, and being pro active by wearing a mask, you should see how United staff treat asians. As an Asian American I was mortified by the treatment, took off my mask and spoke English with no accent to be yelled at like I couldn’t understand a lick of English. I asked for the attendants name and then was told they would make sure I never fly again. They even told immigrations at my arrival city to double check me about the virus. United is racist! I talked to customer service about the incident and was told that I was being unruly according to the flight team. All I did was ask for a name and now I am being punished by United for being Asian and wearing a mask to protect myself.
Danny, I’m sorry this happened to you.