By Staff

NORTHWEST ASIAN WEEKLY

Four Delta Air Lines employees who were fired from their jobs at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport recently filed a lawsuit against the airline, claiming they were fired for speaking Korean.

Ji-Won Kim, Lilian Park, Jean Yi, and Jongjin An all said they suffered “disparate treatment based on their national origin,” and they were “frequently singled out and admonished for speaking Korean.”

The lawsuit, initially filed in King County Superior Court in Seattle, but moved to federal court at Delta’s request, also claimed the women were sexually harassed by another customer service agent and were retaliated against after complaining about it.

The four former gate agents were all fired in May 2017 after an investigation concluded that they offered too many “unauthorized upgrades” to customers, but the women said they “did nothing contrary to Delta policy and, in fact, were acting in concert with commonly accepted practices.”

In a statement, the airline said, “We take allegations of workplace harassment and discrimination very seriously and our investigations into allegations made by these former employees were found to be without merit.”