
Delta Air Lines has been accused of using a digitally altered video to fabricate a passenger complaint as part of a ‘strategic ambush tactic’ against a Jewish American flight attendant who had recently made a formal complaint of antisemitic behavior by her coworkers, a lawsuit alleges.
Sharon Lavy is the third Jewish American flight attendant in the last few months to accuse Delta of discrimination and retaliation after she filed her lawsuit in a New York district court late last month.
Lavy claims Delta embarked on a pattern of harassment and retaliation against her in early 2023, which involved a “series of unfounded and bizarre allegations regarding her in-flight conduct,” which included a fake video that showed Lavy working on an aircraft type that she is not trained on.
The civil complaint against Delta claims the airline used a video which “appeared to be a composite, with Plaintiff’s [Lavy’s] image superimposed onto a different aircraft backdrop.”
“Additionally, Plaintiff noticed the unnatural appearance of her hand, which appeared to have been manipulated through computer imaging,” the complaint continued.
After denying the allegations and pointing out the discrepancies with the video evidence, a Delta manager reportedly accepted that someone from within the airline was “possibly attempting to frame” Lavy and another Jewish American flight attendant who has filed his own lawsuit against the Atlanta-based carrier.
The issues that Lavy has faced can be traced back to late 2022 when she reported coworkers apparently mistreating Jewish passengers on several flights.
Lavy says she implored the airline to implement training initiatives to prevent future occurrences of alleged antisemitism, but her complaint went unanswered. Several months later, Lavy says she reported a senior crew member for mistreating her and another Jewish crew member, and it was at this point that Delta engaged in “retaliatory action.”
Along with the alleged deepfake video, Lavy was put under investigation for a series of other incidents, including allegations that she had been caught eating steak in full view of passengers during boarding and had been too busy eating to make required announcements.
Other complaints alleged that Lavy had been using her cellphone at unauthorized times and that she had been kicking a coworker.
The complaint says of these allegations: “Plaintiff reasonably believed that Defendant [Delta Air Lines] had intentionally fabricated these complaints to tarnish her reputation, and to intimidate and harass her in retaliation for her emails reporting antisemitic behavior by her colleagues.”
In response to a request for comment, a spokesperson for Delta Air Lines told us: “We do not comment directly on pending litigation, and Delta has zero tolerance for discrimination of any form or retaliation in our workplace.”
Last November, Lavy’s colleague, Roey Segev, accused Delta of jeopardizing the safety and security of its Jewish employees by knowingly employing Hamas supporters.
Several months earlier, another Jewish flight attendant claimed Delta refused to give him time off to commemorate Yom Kippur, the holiest day of the year in Judaism, despite multiple requests to find an accommodation for his religious needs.
Sheva’s lawsuit made international headlines because he also claimed that the airline served him a ham sandwich after bosses refused to give him time to buy food that would satisfy his religious and ethical needs.
Mateusz Maszczynski honed his skills as an international flight attendant at the most prominent airline in the Middle East and has been flying ever since... most recently for a well known European airline. Matt is passionate about the aviation industry and has become an expert in passenger experience and human-centric stories. Always keeping an ear close to the ground, Matt's industry insights, analysis and news coverage is frequently relied upon by some of the biggest names in journalism.
…”refused to give him time off to commemorate Yom Kippur.” I am Anglican and I had to work on Christmas Day and Easter Sunday. I didn’t complain because the job had to be done. Delta allows one to request a PPL (paid personal leave) days IF there are PPL days “in the bank” so to speak. This FA could have requested PPL or (based on seniority) bid those days off, or asked to swap with another FA. The company will try to honor those requests or bids but there is no guarantee. Surely this FA knew this going into the job. Then to complain that the airline gave him a ham sandwich for lunch. The airline uses a catering service. Neither the airline nor the caterer knows one’s religion. A lunch is put on the plane. I’ve never been asked my religious beliefs by any company to include my airline. So, this FA could have easily gone to a restaurant and gotten a Kosher meal if that is needed. What this FA is doing is playing the “religious card”…”Poor, poor pitiful me. Look what THEY are doing to me.” This is BULL***T generated by a pathetic whiner. He ain’t gonna win this one.
There’s absolutely nothing in the Bible prohibiting you from working on Christmas day or mandating that you go to Church. If you want to observe, it’s up to you but it’s not a requirement of your religion. Your comparison makes no sense. Delta is supposed to accommodate a person’s religious needs. This person is trying to do something mandated by her religion. Do you really have no clue how catering works? Any passenger who will be getting meal service has the option of ordering a kosher meal.
Poor pitiful you. How dare somebody else whose religion is different complain when you don’t have a case to be made?
The company does not ask one’s religion. If the person wants that time off for religious observance, then they put that in writing so that HR has that documented. Yes, a Kosher meal can be REQUESTED with XX hours advance notice. Even then, the caterer will screw that up. We’ve seen that on every airline. It’s not a “religious get even”, it is a human mistake. Flight attendants may be “on reserve” and there is no time for the meal request to be honored. Flight attendants know this because they have to deal with this with passengers who have requested a special meal and the caterer screwed up!. So, to cover their butts, bring that Kosher sandwich with you…just in case. Regarding the “Bible” reference, my lady friend is Jewish and proud of it (and born in Egypt…raised in Montreal!). I have been to many seders at her family’s home. They eat pork BBQ (not at a seder but…). One of my physicians is Iranian. We’ve have lunch together and he eats pork, too. A friend in reservations is Jewish. She works on holidays, too. So don’t throw the “bible says so” in the face. Prior to working in the airline business, my family built commercial kitchens. We built the catering kitchens for a major airline at their hub (the airline owns the kitchen but leases the catering to a company), their passenger lounges, put the china, glass and flatware on the jets (NO…the airline did not have Kosher china, either, unlike many of the hotel kitchens we built). So, since I put two 40′ Hobart flight type dishwashers in the airline catering kitchen plus the coolers, convection ovens, etc. , I DO know how airline catering works. Stick to what YOU know.
When applying for a job at Delta airlines , one of the main phrases states in bold clear letter that are you willing to relocate, work in weekends ,holidays and or certain days and every one who wanted the job will answer YES ,
Fine, but if they used an AI video they deserve to be nailed to the fucking wall for fraud.
The article states “they believe an employee is trying to frame.”
Saying it was “delta” is disingenuous because it’s just some employee
Situations like this do a disservice to all those who are truly experiencing antisemitic behavior. Just because you’re Jewish (or female, black, Arab, gay, etc.) doesn’t make everything that happens to you is caused by your identity. Maybe this person is just a problem….
Exactly!
So right! This person is clearly the problem and does not deserve the job.
You absolutely right
I’m no fan of Delta but this Deep State type of conspiracy theory just comes across as unhinged. There may actually be coworkers who are antisemitic but alleging a vast Delta-wide conspiracy is just weird and hurts the cases of people experiencing actual prejudice.
Obviously, the FA is unhinged. No one needs to know that the problem child is jewish. She is just playing the race card to curry sympathy for her poor performance.
jesus mcchrist. This victim idiocy is getting old
Judaism is a religion. Not a “race.”
100%
Unbelievably ugly comments. I anticipate that any alleged retaliatory and unaccommodating behavior that is proven true will be dealt with appropriately in these legal proceedings… As it should be. The irony with which the above comments judge and disturb their writers’ own peace hating on people and situations they don’t know while saying into the void that the involved need to grow tougher skin is massive. Sadly, this kind of hypocritical Internet backlash is totally unsurprising as so many people cannot fathom that distasteful and antagonistic behavior increasingly has consequences within this thing we call a society! Nice reporting, Mateusz.
Who nows, but perfectly plausible that Delta has done these things. It’s amazing what corporations will do when an employee confronts the organization for breaking the law for things the company sees as trivial.
Why give a voice to someone who is seeking publicity for a frivolous lawsuit?
I happen to know this individual very well, and I can say she is one of the laziest, and most obnoxious individuals I have ever known. She is NOT a practicing Jew, so her religion is completely irrelevant. She is simply using anything she can for personal gain, and she is a total disgrace to the dozens upon dozens of hard-working Jewish individuals at Delta.
The vast majority of Jewish employees at Delta have a strong work ethic and do not request any special consideration for faith. They are proud of their Jewish heritage, and equally proud to be Delta employees.
These are outrageous allegations by an obviously immature and entitled employee. I worked for Delta Airlines for many years and can not think of a more inclusive company. There is a reason why Delta is the only Non union American carrier. They treat their employees well and it shows. Days off goes by seniority, especially holidays. I worked many holidays with extra pay.
The ham sandwich claim is beyond ridiculous.