Delta Flight Attendants' Lawsuit Claims Airline 'Hostile' To Jews, Israelis

A lawsuit from four Delta Airlines flight attendants based out of New York claims the airline is “hostile” towards Jewish, Hebrew and Israeli passengers and employees.

The Delta flight attendants allege rampant anti-Semitic behavior from the airline in what they describe as “a pattern of intentionally discriminating and retaliating against ethnically Jewish, Hebrew and/or Israeli employees and passengers,” according to the complaint filed Tuesday in U.S. federal court.

The lawsuit, filed January 2 in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, says two of the plaintiffs representated in the lawsuit are of "Jewish/Hebrew/Israeli ethnicity," while the other two flight attendants were disciplined for their "association with" coworkers and passengers of similar ethnic backgrounds. All four of the flight attendant plaintiffs worked on Delta's New York to Tel Aviv flight from JFK Airport to Ben Gurion.

"Delta has encouraged and maintained an anti-Jewish, Hebrew and ethnic Israeli attitude among management, who, through words and deeds, operate under an express assumption that ehtnic Jews and Israelis, as employees and passengers, cannot be trusted, are aggressive and inappropriate, and engage in what are deemed to be "strange" behaviors by conducting prayers on the flight and requiring special dietary accommodations (kosher meals," reads the federal complaint filed Tuesday.

A non-Jewish employee says she was demoted and suspended without pay for simply helping a Jewish friend on a flight.

The Delta flight attendants have career experience ranging from 10 to 40 years and specifically note the instances of anti-Semitic administrative moves on their flights between New York City and Israel. In March 2017, one of the female complainants in the suit claims she was fired because she is Jewish -- and not over what the airline said was a missed flight. She alleges the company granted her Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) time-off for a medical emergency and was therefore not expected to be working.

A representative from the Mildenberg Law Firm in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, says its attorneys are serving as counsel for the federal lawsuit.

A non-Jewish employee and complainant in the suit says she shared a Delta “Travel Companion” pass with a Jewish friend, which ultimately led to her being suspended without pay and demoted. The airline challenged that she even knew her Jewish friend for 40 years and eventually took away her travel benefits for having given the Delta-issued corporate pass to the Jewish man.

The lawsuit details a culture that not only encourages discrimination against Jews, but also targets and punishes employees seen being friendly with Jewish or Israeli people. The "initimidating environment" created by the airline helped create a "hostile" attitude toward Jews.

The four Delta flight attendants are seeking damages for their allegations of discrimination against the airline. They are also requesting that the fired employee is reinstated to her job and that travel benefits are given back to the other flight attendant.

Delta did not immediately return requests for comment on the pending litigation.