Algorithm flagged 28 workers. The three fired were all women over 55
A federal appeals court just handed HR departments a clear message: you cannot use a collective bargaining agreement as a shield against age discrimination claims.
The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled December 11 that United Airlines must face a lawsuit from Anna Palova, a veteran flight attendant who says the carrier targeted older workers during the pandemic while hiding behind contract violations as cover.
Palova had worked for United since 1992, logging nearly three decades with what she describes as a spotless record. That ended abruptly in February 2020 when the airline fired her for "parking," an industry term for manipulating flight schedules.
The practice works like this: flight attendants place unwanted trips on colleagues' schedules temporarily to facilitate trades later, sometimes for compensation. United's joint collective bargaining agreement with its flight attendants explicitly forbids parking.
After a March 2019 company memo warning of zero tolerance for the practice, United's security team built an algorithm to scan flight trading data. The system flagged 28 attendants across three hubs. Palova was one of them. She got a letter February 17, 2020, summoning her to an investigation meeting three days later. United presented her with a spreadsheet it said proved her parking violations. Palova claims the document was illegible, printed in tiny font, and handed to her less than an hour...
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