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For Immediate Release: January 11, 2013
Contact: Corey Caldwell 202-434-0586
Flight Attendant Union Sues Spirit Airlines For Health Care
Discrimination
Washington, DC – Spirit Airlines Flight Attendants, represented
by the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA (AFA) filed a
lawsuit against airline management for forcing Flight Attendants
who wish to provide health insurance for their domestic partners
into a lesser quality plan. The lawsuit accuses management of
exploiting procedural loopholes to avoid their obligation of
providing equal benefits to Flight Attendants.
“We are outraged that management refuses to treat the families
of their employees equally. At a time when equality issues have
sparked a social awakening across our nation, management’s
trampling on employees’ rights is deplorable. Their
discriminatory behavior must be rectified immediately. Flight
Attendants worked hard to ensure that these rights were included
in our legally binding contract so that we could provide
healthcare security for our loved ones. Shame on Spirit
management for their blatant disregard for equality and for
turning their backs on their obligations,” said Todd St. Pierre,
AFA President at Spirit.
AFA filed a grievance in July 2012 after management violated the
Flight Attendant collective bargaining agreement by denying
legally recognized domestic partners to participate in the
various health care plans administered by Spirit Airlines.
Despite an impartial arbitrator’s ruling, management continues
to discriminate against Flight Attendants and deny the inclusion
of domestic partners into the same health care plan open to
married couples.
The Association of Flight Attendants is the world’s largest
Flight Attendant union. Focused 100 percent on Flight Attendant
issues, AFA has been the leader in advancing the Flight
Attendant profession for 67 years. Serving as the voice for
Flight Attendants in the workplace, in the aviation industry, in
the media and on Capitol Hill, AFA has transformed the Flight
Attendant profession by raising wages, benefits and working
conditions. Nearly 60,000 Flight Attendants come together to
form AFA, part of the 700,000-member strong Communications
Workers of America (CWA), AFL-CIO. Visit us at
www.afacwa.org .
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