A senior United Airlines flight attendant has filed a lawsuit in the state of New Jersey against the airline for harassment.
Ingrid Raganova, aged 52, claimed that she was harassed and referred to as a “snitch” online for reporting safety violations involving her colleagues.
Based on court documents, Raganova said that for more than two years, she was singled out and disciplined because she reported safety issues, Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) violations and airline policy violations that she witnessed on many flights.
One of the cases that Raganova reported to the FAA was a colleague’s usage of headphones and iPad during an international flight. Another included a coworker who used a mobile phone to send a text message during takeoff.
The lawsuit, which was filed under the category of Whistleblower / Conscientious Employee Protection Act (CEPA), also said that Raganova’s colleagues retaliated against her by making baseless and fabricated reports that placed her “unjustifiably close to potential termination”.
Raganova said that instead of investigating her reports, the airline demoted her from a management position of international purser to regular flight attendant, a disciplinary action that lasted 18 months, lowered her wages and placed her employment at risk.
Raganova also noticed that colleagues, even those she had not seen before, started to treat her with “hostility”.
On June 1, 2023, Raganova said she discovered a “mass social media posting” about her was sent to more than 25,000 airline employees, labeling her a “snitch”.
The post, which is included in the lawsuit, contains a photo of Raganova and the words, “Snitch Alert. She likes to report flight attendants and harass [sic].”
Raganova, who is based at the carrier’s main hub in Newark, has worked for the airline for more than 27 years.
3 comments
The Raganova article illustrates a social engineering counter attack that would be a major risk to. Boeing shop employees who dared reveal who failed to reinstall the plug that blew out for want of four bolts just last spring. The label of “snitch” creates serious risk for any employee of a large (or small) company. The company should have tracked down whomever attacked Raganova by posting a mass message of such hostile intent and black balled the person or persons involved.
Reporting safety violations isn’t “snitching”, it’s taking care of her passengers, and fellow crew, who are not violating the rules, and putting others at risk! If it’s not, it certainly should be a part of the purser’s duties, as senior flight attendant. Instead of penalizing her, the airline should be grateful! Airliners, and flight crews are expensive; putting even 1 at risk, not to mention however many passengers lives, for which they stood together in the event of injury, “trauma”, or death, should be grounds for disciplinary action against the 1 doing so, because if that person is caught once, it’s highly likely that’s an habitual behavior. Those rules are in place to protect everyone, including the violators!
This senior flight attendant did her job and recognized the importance of her passengers safety and her responsibilities . A career of 27 years and then she decides to make up stories. Her supervisor is nothing more then a bully and the heat she is receiving is from co-workers who are chicken shits! Shame on all of you, as your industry isn’t the quality of customer service that prided itself on in the 60s and 70s.