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Continental Airlines Complaint - A Newspaper article
The Daily Texan reports on a Complaint filed against Continental
Airlines: http://www.dailytexanonline.com/news/468874.html COMPLAINT FILED AGAINST AIRLINE Graduate student accuses Continental Airlines employee of making discriminatory remarks By Anjali Athavaley Media Credit: Ashley Hitson Mamta Motwani, assistant director of the Multicultural Information Center, claims she's a victim of racial profiling. A UT graduate student has filed a complaint against Continental Airlines for an alleged racial profiling incident at the Los Angeles International Airport in early September. Mamta Motwani, Multicultural Information Center assistant director, said a white male Continental employee made discriminatory remarks before allowing her to board a red-eye flight from Los Angeles to Houston Tuesday, Sept. 2. Motwani, a 28-year-old Indian-American, said when she approached the gate with her boarding pass around 12:40 a.m., an attendant told her that she was cutting in line and would have go back. Motwani said the attendant looked at her and said, "We don't cut around here." He spoke deliberately, enunciating his words, she said. "I felt that he spoke to me as if I was not from here," Motwani said. There were about 25 to 30 people standing outside the gate, she said. However, they were waiting for their rows to be called, not standing in line to board. Motwani, who claimed there was no line, said she asked the crowd if they were waiting in line, and no one answered. The attendant responded that this still did not give Motwani the right to cut. Motwani continued to stand in front of him, holding her boarding pass out. The attendant ignored her and began collecting boarding passes from surrounding passengers, she said. A few minutes later, he accepted her pass and allowed her to board the plane. Motwani registered an official complaint with Continental three days later. "I felt publicly humiliated and embarrassed by the manner in which the attendant patronizingly spoke to me," she wrote. In the letter, she told Continental about the incident and demanded that action be taken. Motwani wanted Continental Airlines to hold its employees accountable for their behavior and asked for a detailed apology from the company. She also asked Continental if a diversity training program for employees existed and wanted to be involved in implementing one if there was not a program already in place. A response from Continental manager Deborah Lewerke stated that Continental Airlines does not "approve or tolerate unlawful discrimination." "If there was a line of other customers that you did not notice, our representative should have gently directed you to the end of the line to board in order," Lewerke wrote. The e-mail response also said employees undergo diversity training annually but did not offer details. The company's Web site mentions only hiring diverse staff members and suppliers. Julie King, a spokeswoman for Continental, did not return calls about diversity training for airport employees Wednes-day afternoon. Motwani was unsatisfied with Continental's response, claiming that the e-mail failed to offer ways to remedy the incident. She said she was informed Monday that her allegations are now being investigated by Judy Brown, a customer service manager for Continental. Brown declined to comment on whether or not Continental had tracked the employee in question. Any action taken against the employee would not be made public because of company policy, she said. Students and staff on campus have taken action after hearing of the incident by writing their own letters of complaint to Continental Airlines. Motwani said about 25 people have sent e-mails to Continental CEO Gordon Bethune so far. Rusty Ince, chair of the Senate of College Councils, said he had distributed copies of Motwani's complaint and Continental's response to about 300 students, including all senate members. |
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