A black woman and retired judge has claimed she was targeted for harassment by an American Airlines flight attendant for “slamming” the first class lavatory door on a flight to Phoenix. She denies that charge and believes the incident was racially motivated.
American Airlines Flight Attendant Accused Of Harassing Black Woman…For Slamming First Class Lavatory Door
On February 10, 2024, retired Circuit Court Judge Pamela Hill-Veal was flying in American Airlines first class with her family from Chicago (ORD) to Phoenix (PHX). After using the forward lavatory, a flight attendant stopped her while returning to her seat and scolded her for slamming the lavatory door.
“The flight attendant stopped me as I was returning to my seat and told me I ‘slammed the restroom door and I was not to do it again since passengers were sleeping on the plane.’”
She claimed she did not slam the door and ignored him.
Later in the flight she used the lavatory again and found the flight attendant waiting for her when she stepped out. Pointing toward the rear of the plane, he yelled at her:
“He began to berate me by pointing his finger at me towards my face and saying, ‘I told you not to slam the door … so from now on, you are to use the restroom in the back of the plane’
30 minutes before landing, she rose to use the (first class) lavatory once more and when she emerged, the same flight attendant said that she would be arrested upon landing because he “didn’t like the way I talked to him.” She claims she then physically touched her (with his index finger).
We have not heard the flight attendant’s side of the story yet, but he also accuses Hill-Veal of hitting him. But she says that is ridiculous:
“This was a complete fabrication as I told him that I never hit him.”
Hill-Veal claims she has not been able to sleep since the incident nad how is afraid to fly.
My Thoughts
I saw this story on NPR yesterday and wondered if it would make national headlines, especially as American Airlines has been accused of similar race-based discriminatory treatment in the past. Using flight attendant Facebook groups, I tried to locate the other flight attendant but was not successful. Hopefully, he will come forward if he has a different account. But if everything went down as Hill-Veal describes, then he is unfit to be a flight attendant.
Meanwhile, American Airlines has vowed to investigate the incident:
“American Airlines strives to provide a positive and welcoming experience to everyone who travels with us and we take allegations of discrimination very seriously.”
We likely won’t hear any further updates from AA, but allegations like this story on NPR (and Paddle Your Own Kanoo, who published an account last night) are taken very seriously by American Airlines.
I hope American Airlines promptly gets to the bottom of this and provides additional key details if any were omitted from Hill-Veal’s account.
