2.22.19 – APFA Files EEOC Charge Against Company’s Attendance Policy

Friday, February 22, 2019
 

Union Alleges American Airlines is Discriminating Against Female Flight Attendants

APFA Files EEOC Charge Claiming Company’s Attendance Policy Has Disproportionate Impact on Women
[Los Angeles, CA] – Today, the Association of Professional Flight Attendants (“APFA”), the union that represents over 27,000 American Airlines flight attendants, filed a charge with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”), alleging that the Company has discriminated against its flight attendant work group—which is approximately 75% female.

According to APFA, the airline has violated federal law by treating its pilots, who are overwhelmingly male, differently than the predominantly female Flight Attendant work group when it comes to attendance. APFA has charged that the Company has implemented an onerous attendance policy on Flight Attendants effective October 1, 2018, which will fast-track Flight Attendants to discipline and discharge, while pilots have no such restrictions or penalties. The charge alleges that the Company’s Flight Attendant attendance policy has a disparate impact on women, in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

While APFA recognizes that pilots have earned and deserve their currently existing attendance procedures, it asks the EEOC to find that Flight Attendants are entitled to the same respect.

“Our Flight Attendants work alongside outstanding pilots as a single flight crew, yet we are treated like second-class citizens when it comes to attendance,” said APFA President Lori Bassani. “We deserve the same respect and professionalism as our other crew members, regardless of our gender, and it is unacceptable that American Airlines is perpetuating this gender disparity in 2019.”

The charge requests that the EEOC eradicate American Airlines’ discriminatory, illegal attendance program.

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