A WestJet flight attendants is claiming to have been sexually assaulted by a pilot and says that the airline took the pilot’s side.
She is now suing the airline for protecting him and failing to protect her. Since then the flight attendant has been fired for “insubordination”.
Here’s what flight attendant Mandalena Lews says happened.
During a layover in Maui, the flight crew were having drinks in the pilot’s hotel room. The other crew members left and then (according to Mashable) “at which point the pilot suggested sex, but Lewis refused. He then threw her on the bed, kissed her and groped her between the legs before she was able to push him away and leave the room, she says“.
Lewis says that she reported what happened to a coworker and her supervisor. She was told she wouldn’t have to work with the pilot anymore but this (in some ways) hurt her as she lost a lot of work because she couldn’t be on standby or reserve.
Then Lewis got fired for “insubordination” for using a curse word in one of her follow up e-mails to the airline
Lewis’s lawsuit “alleges WestJet failed to protect her from a pilot with known assault history, has been filed in the Supreme Court of British Columbia“.
She’s gotten a lot of support in the form of an online petition. Over 10,000 people have signed it, feeling the WestJet CEO Gregg Saretsky should step down.
I’m curious to hear more about the case and find out the outcome. From the limited info in the Mashable article that I read, I do wonder what evidence might exist besides another FA claiming to have had a similar problem with the pilot.
