United Airlines has settled a lawsuit involving discrimination against an employee of Asian origin. The incident involved a racial slur being used against the victim by a manager in 2021. The ex-United employee will receive almost $100,000 in compensation as well as tens of thousands of flight miles from the carrier.
Settlement made
United Airlines
has settled a lawsuit filed by an ex-employee regarding racial discrimination in which an ex-manager used a racial slur against the victim. The carrier did not take swift action and started its investigation more than a month later.
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The US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has announced that United has agreed to pay $99,000 and provide other relief to settle a federal lawsuit for a hostile work environment based on race and national origin. The EEOC stated,
“United allowed an Asian American employee of Mongolian ancestry to be called by a racial slur; physically assaulted; have his employment threatened based on his race and national origin; and delayed investigating the employee’s internal complaint even though it included claims of physical violence.”
United will also give 75,000 miles to the victim as well as review its EEO policies. The carrier will also modify its workplace violence policy so that investigations of actual or threatened physical violence are carried out within 72 hours of the notice of complaint.
Photo: Minh K Tran | Shutterstock
Act of discrimination
According to The Colorado Sun, the incident took place in 2021. The victim, Alsunbayar Davaabat, worked as a driver at United’s Denver catering facility and was eating at the cafeteria on January 11. It was the height of the COVID-19 pandemic and mask mandates were in place.
People were expected to wear masks at all times except when they were eating. When Davaabat was done with his meal, he and a co-worker walked to the trash can when Terry McGurk, senior manager of food and materials, noticed that their masks were down.
Photo: Wenjie Zheng | Shutterstock
McGurk asked them to put their masks back on, to which they replied “yes sir.” The lawsuit states that McGurk replied using a racial slur towards Davaabat that led to a confrontation in which McGurk “grabbed and twisted” Davaabat’s arm.
The victim was “shocked and afraid for his physical safety and of losing his job,” and even reported this incident so that action could be taken against McGurk. When nothing happened, Davaabat resigned from his position and left after serving two-weeks’ notice.
United did not initiate an investigation for more than a month after the incident and took around four months to interview witnesses. The EEOC said that this was not acceptable as the carrier clearly failed to take prompt action. EEOC Phoenix District Office Regional Attorney Mary Jo O’Neill, whose jurisdiction includes Colorado, commented,
“Employers must take prompt and effective action to address complaints of a hostile work environment, especially where the complaint includes allegations of physical violence.”
The Colorado Sun quotes a comment from United Airlines:
“After an extensive investigation, the manager in this case was removed from the workplace and is no longer with United. We offered the plaintiff re-employment in 2021, but he declined. United is pleased that settling this case will avoid protracted litigation for all parties.”
Simple Flying, too, has reached out to the airline for a statement.
Photo: Ronen Fefer | Shutterstock
Similar cases
United isn’t the only airline to be involved in a case like this. Recently, American Airlines announced that it had
officially settled the racial discrimination lawsuit
that three African American men had filed. The victims claimed that they were removed from a flight due to racial discrimination.
The incident took place in January 2024 on a flight from Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport (PHX) to New York. Eight passengers were forced to deboard after a flight attendant complained about a foul odor in the cabin. All eight passengers were black. Three of those passengers filed a lawsuit against American Airlines in May.
Photo: Markus Mainka | Shutterstock
In November, a Jewish American flight attendant sued Delta Air Lines for antisemitic discrimination and retaliation. The case has been analyzed in detail in the article below.
Related
Flight Attendant Sues Delta Air Lines Over Alleged Antisemitic Discrimination
It is Delta’s second discrimination suit brought by Jewish flight attendants in the last few months.