Retaliation over airline safety concerns

I was hired into the initial flight attendant class for a new start-up airline in February 2007 with considerable prior experience. By the time the airline's certification process with the FAA was completed in early May, my classmates and I had determined that our manager was clearly not following through on any of our concerns; including safety. Following the launch of the airline in late May, this manager's dereliction of duty was obvious to most of my classmates, and he even went to the extent of instructing me to violate Federal Aviation Regulations on a flight; which I refused to do. On behalf of flight attendants employed by this airline, and in the interest of bringing safety concerns to light, I began including other members of management when I communicated new and/or previously stated concerns. I also filed safety reports regularly. I was called into the office unexpectedly and fired on July 3rd, but was given no supporting documentation to justify the decision. During this termination meeting, the reason for my termination began as alleged feedback pertaining to my performance (which was not provided and which would be discounted by the pilots and flight attendants I flew with) but changed to "the company felt I was not a fit for them" (despite my well-rounded and uncommon level of experience) when I asked for documentation of this feedback.

1 answer  |  asked Jul 9, 2007 10:41 PM [EST]  |  applies to Ohio

Answers (1)

Neil Klingshirn
How to file an FAA whistleblower or retaliation claim

It appears that you have a claim for retaliation under the FAA's anti-whistleblower rules.

Read MEL's retaliation FAQ on this website for a general understanding of how to prove a retaliation claim. As you will see, retaliation requires you to first engage in protected conduct. The FAA regulations make complaints about air carrier safety protected conduct. If you were fired because you complained about air carrier safety to your employer, then you have a retaliation claim.

You need to file a complaint with OSHA within 90 days of the termination, however. Here is the FAA's webpage on this topic:

http://www.faa.gov/safety/programs_initiatives/aircraft_aviation/whistleblower/policy/qa/

If you want assistance filing your claim or would like to discuss how to prove that the "not a fit" is really pretext for retaliation, we offer a consultation. Please contact Jenny at 330.665.5445, ext. 0 if you would like to schedule a consultation. Our fee is $200.

Best regards,

Neil.

posted by Neil Klingshirn  |  Jul 10, 2007 08:14 AM [EST]

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