A veteran United Airlines flight attendant is suing the Chicago-based carrier over ‘false’ allegations that he sexually assaulted a coworker and then stalked her during a layover at a hotel in London, England, used by the carrier.
Antoine B. from New York had worked for United Airlines for 25 years when he unexpectedly received a written notice in December 2024 informing him that he had been put under investigation for alleged misconduct.
The long-serving crew member, who was in his mid-60s at the time of the allegation, had little idea of what the allegations were until a few minutes before he was pulled into an interview by bosses, who gave him little time to look through their investigative file.
It was at this point that the flight attendant discovered that one of his colleagues on a flight from Newark to London Heathrow had accused him of touching her lower waist, stalking her at the layover hotel, and repeatedly touching her on the return flight to the United States.
Shocked by the allegations, the crew members reviewed the evidence that United had compiled and discovered that no eyewitness statements from the other flight attendants substantiated the allegations.
Antoine B. insists that he never touched his accuser’s waist, stalked her, or engaged in inappropriate conduct.
In fact, he had been working at the back of the aircraft during both flights between Newark and London Heathrow and had very limited contact with his accuser. The only time that he passed her was, he says, when he passed through the forward galley to deal with a customer service issue before taking a mid-flight break.
Antoine B. asked United to preserve video surveillance footage from the crew hotel that could help prove his innocence, although United refused to hand over this evidence and failed to even confirm whether it had taken steps to get hold of this footage.
As the investigation progressed, the accuser’s statements over time, becoming increasingly more detailed as she interacted with United’s investigators.
Despite the seriousness of the allegations, United Airlines offered Antoine B. a deal: relinquish his contractual and legal rights to pursue legal claims over the allegations in exchange for a reduced disciplinary outcome. If he refused, he would face harsher discipline.
Antoine B. refused to waive his legal rights or admit to allegations that he had not committed. As a result, United slapped him with a Level 4 ‘Last Chance’ discipline. He continues to be employed, but if he faces even the most minor of complaints in the future, his entire career at the airline could come crashing down.
Filing a lawsuit against United in the district court for the Southern District of New York, Antoine B. says the airline’s investigation was “biased, one-sided, and conducted in bad faith.”
He believes that his age played a role in United’s attitude toward him, with the complaint stating: “Upon information and belief, older and minority flight attendants are disproportionately subjected to severe discipline without progressive corrective measures.”
This isn’t the first time that United has faced allegations that it discriminates against older employees and chooses to enforce harsher discipline on its longer-serving workers.
In 2022, United was ordered to pay two veteran flight attendants more than $2 million in compensation after a federal appeals court agreed with a previous jury finding that the airline had fired them based on their age.
The two crew members had been accused of breaking United’s rules by watching a movie on an iPad while on duty during a flight, leading to the airline secretly placing a supervisor on a flight to observe the pair.
During this observation flight, the supervisor claims to have watched the flight attendants break a slew of safety and service standards, including witnessing one of them vape during the flight, sitting on metal galley boxes in violation of safety rules, and watching a video on an iPad together.
Faced with the possibility of being terminated for their transgressions, both flight attendants retired before the internal investigation was completed, but they went on to file a suit against United claiming age discrimination.
The basis of their legal complaint wasn’t that they hadn’t broken any rules but that what they had done was “commonplace” and “minor” and that similar transgressions by younger flight attendants hadn’t warranted dismissal.
The two crew members had sought $1 million in compensation, but after United lost on appeal, the airline was ordered to pay double that amount.
Antoine B. has accused United of race and age discrimination, as well as retaliation. The lawsuit also names the Association of Flight Attendants (AFA-CWA) for failing to provide him with adequate union representation during United’s investigation and failing to appeal United’s punishment.
