A nearly 30-year veteran 
United Airlines
flight attendant has reportedly filed a lawsuit after claiming she was systematically harassed and demoted for over two years. The inflight worker allegedly believes she was mistreated because she would report safety and security concerns at the airline.
Rather than her reports leading to internal investigations and discipline of those involved, the flight attendant
says they brought on the wrath of her coworkers and some superior individuals on her. She reportedly claims that she has been labeled as a “snitch” online.
Whistleblower allegations?
52-year-old Ingrid Raganova from Newark filed the lawsuit on August 20th, according to NJ.com. The flight attendant, who has worked at United for 27 years, claimed in court papers that she was singled out and disciplined for reporting safety issues, Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) violations, and airline policy violations that she witnessed on several flights.
Raganova said that her employer did not investigate any of the occurrences that she reported, according to the lawsuit obtained by NJ.com.
“In addition, none of these reported events were properly investigated by the defendants (United Airlines), as the parties involved never received any calls or inquiries from management or human resources.”
Photo: Denver International Airport
Raganova is based at Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR)
. Her colleagues reportedly retaliated against her by making baseless allegations that put her “unjustifiably close to potential termination,” the lawsuit alleges. However, the nature of the allegations is unclear. The suit also says that Raganova reported written statements and emails of the flagrant violations that she witnessed as they put her coworkers and passengers at risk.
Retaliation from colleagues and supervisors
One of her complaints involved a colleague who was texting during takeoff. Another reportedly wore earbuds and watched videos on his cellphone while sitting in a jumpseat during a flight. Raganova also recalled a gate agent at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX)
who allegedly closed an aircraft door without authorization in an attempt to “force the flight to take off faster,” according to NJ.com.
“This gate agent did not consult the crew, per United Airlines policies and procedures, to see if it was safe and appropriate to close the door,” the lawsuit explained. “The aisles were still filled with passengers’ luggage and the overhead bins were clearly open as passengers were all over the aircraft still attempting to stow their luggage before taking their seats.”
Photo: OJUP | Shutterstock
Rather than taking Raganova’s claims seriously, United’s supervisors and the carrier’s human resources department reportedly punished the flight attendant. She was allegedly demoted from an international flight attendant management position to a standard flight attendant – a disciplinary action that lasted a year and a half. The lawsuit also alleges that Raganova had lower wages as a result, and her employment status was at risk.
“Snitch alert”
Her emails and written complaints about the safety violations were constantly ignored, according to the lawsuit. Raganova reportedly experienced being treated unfairly by a flight attendant in March of 2023 when she was on a flight from Lisbon to Newark. She was in first class and claimed the flight attendant refused to serve her and called her names. However, Raganova did not know who the employee was.
She then recalled discovering a few months later that a “mass social media posting was sent out” calling her a “snitch” to more than 25,000 United employees.
“Snitch Alert. She likes to report flight attendants and harass,” the post reportedly said. “She has a report of reporting other FA’s.”
In addition to the lawsuit, Raganova is also suing two of her colleagues and up to 100 employees. According to Aviation Direct, the legal action relies on New Jersey’s whistleblower law, the Conscientious Employee Protection Act (CEPA). It protects workers from retaliation should they report safety or legal violations.
Simple Flying contacted United on Saturday, but the airline did not respond to our request for comment.
The Chicago-based carrier was
scrutinized for several months after numerous high-profile safety-related incidents prompted the FAA to increase its oversight
. United also cracked down on its flight attendants earlier this year after concerns that
too many crew members were using their personal electronic devices during flights
.