BA Flight Attendant Suspended for Selling Sex During Layovers
Jeff Edwards July 23, 2018
British Airways has confirmed that a senior cabin crew supervisor has been suspended pending an investigation into accusations that he used his position to sell sexual favors and work as a porn actor during layovers around the globe.
A British Airways cabin crew member and supervisor appears to have found a unique way to bring the glamour back to a career in aviation. According to news accounts, the senior flight attendant seamlessly worked a lucrative side-job as a sex worker and porn actor during layovers while working for the U.K. Flag carrier.
The Daily Mail reports that the veteran flight attendant raked in as much as $1,000 a night during stopovers. The unnamed British Airways supervisor is said to have met his “johns” at hotels near the airports where he had scheduled layovers. The moonlighting BA employee reportedly advertised his “services” online prior to overnighting at a given destination. The now-suspended crew member is also accused of filming sexual liaisons for later sale and distribution.
British Airways officials confirmed that the industrious cabin crew member has been placed on leave while the company looks into allegations that he used his position to trade sex for money at destinations throughout the carrier’s extensive route network. Although the alleged sexual liaisons were likely illicit in at least some jurisdictions, it appears that the extracurricular activity occurred on the employee’s free-time, making an already sticky H.R. situation especially fraught with challenges. For its part, British Airways appears perfectly comfortable to put the airline’s reputation over a rogue employee’s right to publicly express themselves sexually.
“We have removed a member of cabin crew from duty pending further investigation,” a British Airways spokesperson told the newspaper. “We expect all our staff to maintain the very highest standards and levels of professionalism at all times.”
https://www.britishairways.com/cms/global/pdfs/corporate_responsibility_report_2006/Basi18V1.pdf "Misuse of Opportunities and Information : Employees owe a duty to the Company to advance the Company’s business interests when appropriate. Employees are prohibited from taking (or directing to a third party) a business opportunity that is discovered through the use of corporate property, information or position..." IANAL, but my conjecture is that BA's lawyers might argue that the employee 'discovered' this business opportunity through the use of corporate property (i.e., the FA's access to the locales where the FA conducted business, resulted from their working for BA.) The fact that the FA was selling and not buying might also be relevant.
What happens between 2 consenting adults is nobody else's business. The government and employers should stay out of peoples private lives.
Don't airlines still pay flight attendants during layover? In that case, they are still "on the clock".
Does an employer’s Code of Conduct apply to employees when employees are off duty?
With most work contracts employees are obliged to inform their employer about any other work. The article states, that the person in question has charged money/ was paid for the services. I assume that this would count as "work" or "job". In this case it might well be, that the suspect has broken the obligations from the contract besides from any question about WHAT the job was.