Airline director fired for 'fat shaming' British Airways cabin crew
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}A director for LOT Polish Airlines is out of a job after recently "fat shaming" the cabin crew staff of a British Airways flight on social media with a series of illicitly taken photos, reportedly mocking their uniforms as “too tight” and overall appearance as “messy.”
Earlier this week, Katarzyna Richter, an operations director for LOT Polish Airlines, took a British Airways flight from London’s Gatwick Airport to Poland, Metro reports.
Richter was evidently so taken aback by the looks and grooming of the flight crew that she quickly aired her grievances on Facebook, blasting the staffers for their “unpolished” appearances.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Katarzyna Richter, pictured, was fired from her job with LOT Polish Airlines after recently "fat shaming" the cabin crew staff of a British Airways flight on social media. (Katarzyna Richter / Facebook)
“Today, my attention was drawn to grooming and appearance of British Airways cabin crew members, unpolished shoes, holes in tights, too tight uniform, double chin, rotten and uneven teeth, messy hairstyle,” Richter allegedly complained, as per an English translation by Metro.
The woman shared photos that she secretly took of the airline employees in her post, and continued to question how effectively they were truly doing their jobs.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Richter’s industry peers, meanwhile, were outraged with the cyberbullying, and soon brought the post to LOT’s attention.
“How dare this airline executive invite the public to assess the appearance of a rival carrier’s workers. The primary job of BA staff is to keep passengers safe,” an anonymous British Airways employee told The Sun. “This woman should know more than anyone how to behave. She must be sacked for fat shaming BA crew while going about their duties.”
“Today, my attention was drawn to grooming and appearance of British Airways cabin crew members, unpolished shoes, holes in tights, too tight uniform, double chin, rotten and uneven teeth, messy hairstyle,” Richter allegedly complained on Facebook. (iStock)
“She’s gone way, way too far. There is no excuse,” another echoed.
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In the days since, reps for LOT have confirmed that Richter’s employment with the company has been terminated in relation to the social media incident.
“We are truly sorry for this situation. The comments published by one of our employees on the private Facebook profile are contrary to the applicable standards and the value system adopted at LOT Polish Airlines,” an official told Metro. ‘Such behavior is unacceptable and will not be tolerated by our company, therefore we decided to terminate the co-operation with Richter with immediate effect.”
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}In the days since, reps for LOT have confirmed that Richter’s employment with the company has been terminated in relation to the social media incident. (iStock)
“Furthermore, we ensure that this situation will never happen again by drawing even more attention to the notification of social media policy and applicable procedures to our employees,” the rep detailed, adding that the importance of the policy will be especially emphasized at employee training events in the future.
When contacted for comment, a spokesperson for British Airways told Fox News: “We are proud of our Cabin Crew and the exceptional service that they deliver to our customers every day.”
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}As for Richter, she is said to have seen the error of her ways and issued a public apology, the Sun reports.
“I would like to apologize very much to the British Airways crew and to everyone affected,” she said.. “I regret my behavior — I should not judge the competence and appearance of employees of another airline.”