LEAKED AIRLINE COVID PULL DISCRIMINATION RECORDING

As the Omicron variant wreaks havoc on the airline industry, thousands of flights are cancelling nationwide. Why? Airlines have created this problem themselves.

1). They are allowing vaccinated employees to continue to work/spread the disease to each other and the passengers (but not notifying the passengers when they come in contact with a Covid positive crew member). If a vaccinated employee is pulled, they are paid. This incentivizes the individual to test, and get pulled for a paid 10 days off. Obviously more tests = more positives = more pulls = a never ending problem. Companies will not release information for how many positive tests are coming from vaccinated crew members.

2) However, vaccine-free individuals, those who don't wish to disclose their vaccine status to the company, and those individuals who were granted a religious or medical exemption, are being put on mandatory 10-day, unpaid pulls. Often these individuals are symptom-free, willing to work, but being required to quarantine in hotels all across the country, away from their families and friends, without pay. Some are able to fly home, others are not. Some are told their hotel will be paid for, others are told they must pay for it themselves. There is no consistency to how they are handling these situations.

At this particular airline at least, this new "Covid Pull Policy" is a direct violation of a Letter of Agreement dated March 2020 between the company and the pilot/flight attendant unions.

In addition, pay incentives such as time and a half/double time are being offered on trips to incentivize crew to pickup additional hours to cover flying. While this is offered to all employees, vaccinated and vaccine-free, this also creates a massive problem. Vaccinated individuals are now incentivized with extra money to go to work despite any symptoms they may have/their ability to spread to others. Vaccine-free individuals are afraid of picking up extra flying, even for extra money, as they have NO idea what will happen to them while on the line.

This is a phone call between the new "Covid Notifications Team" at this airline, and a flight attendant who has been notified of their covid pull. Names and phone numbers have been removed to protect the privacy of the individuals. The member of the Covid Notifications Team confirms that:

1. Vaccinated individuals are being treated differently than vaccine-free individuals, and those who don't wish to disclose their medical status. The latter are penalized with unpaid leave.
2. This department is not notifying passengers of crew members they come in contact with who test positive for Covid-19.
3. This airline is (at the time of this phone call) not following updated CDC guidelines of five days instead of 10.
4. This individual cannot tell the employee which employee exposed them (because of HIPAA), but also cannot confirm which departments/how many have access to their medical information (a potential violation of their HIPAA rights).
5. This employee is required to quarantine as a prisoner for 10 days on their own dime initially, not allowed to leave the hotel, and threatened they will be asked to leave said hotel if they leave their room for any reason.

This phone call was recorded in Dallas, Texas, and is perfectly legal under recording laws of that state. Texas is currently a “one person party recording” state, meaning, as long as one party is privy to the recording taken place, it can be used as evidence.

This is discrimination, as it is a violation of the GINA Act of 2008, and currently one of hundreds of cases that will be presented to the EEOC.

If your flights continue to cancel, you deserve to know what’s happening behind the scenes to employees of the airline industry, and why YOU are penalized as a paying passenger. Airline Leaks is determined to reveal these situations as we are alerted to them. If you have been discriminated against, or are a victim of airline cancellations, please DM us with your story so we can further address this issue to the general public.

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