United Airlines allegedly spied on a flight attendant who was on sick leave due to a work-related injury and accused him of moonlighting in his family’s restaurant in Kissimmee, Florida. The flight attendant is now fighting to get his job back.
Fillippo Marinesi had worked for United Airlines since 2014 and was described as a professional employee who was commended with the airline’s One Hundred Award–United’s most prestigious award, which honors 100 employees who have made “exceptional contributions” to the company in the past year.
But in August 2023, Marinesi was injured during an ultra-long-haul flight to Dubai and suffered a painful spinal injury. On his return to the United States, Marinesi’s physician told him he’d need to take time off work to recover, and this was granted by United Airlines.
Unable to earn flying pay during his recovery, Marinesi admits that he started to experience financial difficulties and could no longer afford to live on his own near United’s hub at Newark International Airport.
Marinesi packed up his bags and moved close to the rest of his family in Florida, fist telling his line manager where he planned to be staying during the rest of his recovery.
The initial plan had been for Marinesi to stay with his cousin, but due to space constraints, arrangements were made for Marinesi to move into a hotel room–it just so happened that the hotel was in the same building as a new restaurant that was owned by Marinesi’s cousin.
In early 2024, United became suspicious of Marinesi’s activity in Florida and employed a private investigator to put him under covert surveillance.
The investigator surreptitiously took photos of Marinesi over several days, following him around Kissimmee as he took part in family errands and did some sightseeing, as well as photographing as he returned to the hotel.
Using photographs from the covert surveillance, as well as images scraped from Marinesi’s public social media profiles, United Airlines then allegedly accused him of unauthorized employment at his cousin’s restaurant.
In a recently filed lawsuit against United, Marinesi says he was dragged into a disciplinary meeting where managers relied upon “assumptions and misinterpretations of the surveillance and social media content” to build their case against him.
One of the photographs used in United’s case against Marinesi showed him handling food in the restuants kitchen but Marinesi says this was a private family event. In fact, at this point, the restaurant wasn’t even actively trading and hadn’t yet opened to the public.
Based on the private investigator’s evidence, United terminated Marinesi without allegedly building any other evidence, such as payroll or tax records, that would prove he was working at his family’s business while on sick leave.
The lawsuit, which was filed in a New Jersey district court earlier this week, is seeking to get Marinesi his job back, as well as securing back pay and punitive damages.
The case has been registered as 2:25-cv-04822 in the New Jersey District Court. United Airlines is yet to respond to the allegations.
SIU surveillance investigations into workers who claim to be injured and unable to work (usually getting paid workers’ compensation or other benefits at 66 2/3 of pay or more, grossed up with no taxes) yet can work another job are very common. Why? Because people cheat and lie. The question I have is, if he was unable to work, why was he working another job? It’s called fraud. All that being said, we don’t know all the facts, and sadly, he may even win the court case because of dysfunctional workers’ compensation legal avenues. There is a reason they filed a lawsuit in New Jersey and not Florida, I’m sure.
Good. United’s policy on activities while on sick leave have been clear for decades. People who want to steal from the company should not be able to do so with the knowledge that United will just take it lying down.
Well a DXB line holder has to be senior enough, maybe it’s a perfect time to retire anyway.
United airlines probably became suspicious of him because it was his 7th or 8th occupational injury that he was paid for and sued for settlements. He even gave advice on how to do it. The article doesn’t state that he was receiving compensation and has a history of suing United. He came back after each previous “injury” with fresh cosmetic surgeries.
Tell the truth consistently and you won’t be followed.
Just read on a United employee facebook page that this guy had filed for workers’ comp at least 3 times. I guess he’s one of those lazy workers that want to live on disability checks forever.
He was experiencing financial difficulties but he kept his lease in New Jersey where he resides with his partner who’s also a flight attendant, and then moved to a hotel in Florida… that sounds fishy
United will get the receipts for the hotel he was staying at and the lease contract for his place in New Jersey and his case won’t make it to trial