Delta Employees Say They Were Fired for Speaking Korean

Four past employees of Delta Air Lines are claiming in a lawsuit that the airline fired them for speaking Korean, even though they were assigned to work flights to and from South Korea. The group also claims to have been sexually harassed by another employee during their employment with the airline.

According to a new lawsuit against Delta Air Lines, four former employees—Korean women Ji-Won Kim, Lilian Park, Jean Yi and Jongjin—were all fired unfairly for speaking in Korean. The women believed their fluency in Korean helped secure them jobs when they began, and they were all assigned to work the customer service desk and gates for flights between Seattle-Tacoma and South Korea.

But according to the May 2017 lawsuit against the airline, the women were “singled out and admonished for speaking Korean,” Newsweek reported.

The women also claim to have been sexually harassed by a fellow employee, to the point where they had to hide from the man when he arrived to the gate.

Delta told Newsweek that the women were rightly terminated for violations of ticketing and fare rules, but regardless, the airline investigated the allegations.

“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,” the airline said in a statement reported by Newsweek. “These former employees were unfortunately but appropriately terminated because the company determined they violated ticketing and fare rules. Delta is confident that these claims will ultimately be determined to be without merit.”

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