Delta Air Lines has been accused of using a digitally altered video to fabricate a passenger complaint as part of a ‘strategic ambush tactic’ against a Jewish American flight attendant who had recently made a formal complaint of antisemitic behavior by her coworkers, a lawsuit alleges.
Sharon Lavy is the third Jewish American flight attendant in the last few months to accuse Delta of discrimination and retaliation after she filed her lawsuit in a New York district court late last month.
Lavy claims Delta embarked on a pattern of harassment and retaliation against her in early 2023, which involved a “series of unfounded and bizarre allegations regarding her in-flight conduct,” which included a fake video that showed Lavy working on an aircraft type that she is not trained on.
The civil complaint against Delta claims the airline used a video which “appeared to be a composite, with Plaintiff’s [Lavy’s] image superimposed onto a different aircraft backdrop.”
“Additionally, Plaintiff noticed the unnatural appearance of her hand, which appeared to have been manipulated through computer imaging,” the complaint continued.
After denying the allegations and pointing out the discrepancies with the video evidence, a Delta manager reportedly accepted that someone from within the airline was “possibly attempting to frame” Lavy and another Jewish American flight attendant who has filed his own lawsuit against the Atlanta-based carrier.
The issues that Lavy has faced can be traced back to late 2022 when she reported coworkers apparently mistreating Jewish passengers on several flights.
Lavy says she implored the airline to implement training initiatives to prevent future occurrences of alleged antisemitism, but her complaint went unanswered. Several months later, Lavy says she reported a senior crew member for mistreating her and another Jewish crew member, and it was at this point that Delta engaged in “retaliatory action.”
Along with the alleged deepfake video, Lavy was put under investigation for a series of other incidents, including allegations that she had been caught eating steak in full view of passengers during boarding and had been too busy eating to make required announcements.
Other complaints alleged that Lavy had been using her cellphone at unauthorized times and that she had been kicking a coworker.
The complaint says of these allegations: “Plaintiff reasonably believed that Defendant [Delta Air Lines] had intentionally fabricated these complaints to tarnish her reputation, and to intimidate and harass her in retaliation for her emails reporting antisemitic behavior by her colleagues.”
In response to a request for comment, a spokesperson for Delta Air Lines told us: “We do not comment directly on pending litigation, and Delta has zero tolerance for discrimination of any form or retaliation in our workplace.”
Last November, Lavy’s colleague, Roey Segev, accused Delta of jeopardizing the safety and security of its Jewish employees by knowingly employing Hamas supporters.
Several months earlier, another Jewish flight attendant claimed Delta refused to give him time off to commemorate Yom Kippur, the holiest day of the year in Judaism, despite multiple requests to find an accommodation for his religious needs.
Sheva’s lawsuit made international headlines because he also claimed that the airline served him a ham sandwich after bosses refused to give him time to buy food that would satisfy his religious and ethical needs.
…”refused to give him time off to commemorate Yom Kippur.” I am Anglican and I had to work on Christmas Day and Easter Sunday. I didn’t complain because the job had to be done. Delta allows one to request a PPL (paid personal leave) days IF there are PPL days “in the bank” so to speak. This FA could have requested PPL or (based on seniority) bid those days off, or asked to swap with another FA. The company will try to honor those requests or bids but there is no guarantee. Surely this FA knew this going into the job. Then to complain that the airline gave him a ham sandwich for lunch. The airline uses a catering service. Neither the airline nor the caterer knows one’s religion. A lunch is put on the plane. I’ve never been asked my religious beliefs by any company to include my airline. So, this FA could have easily gone to a restaurant and gotten a Kosher meal if that is needed. What this FA is doing is playing the “religious card”…”Poor, poor pitiful me. Look what THEY are doing to me.” This is BULL***T generated by a pathetic whiner. He ain’t gonna win this one.
Situations like this do a disservice to all those who are truly experiencing antisemitic behavior. Just because you’re Jewish (or female, black, Arab, gay, etc.) doesn’t make everything that happens to you is caused by your identity. Maybe this person is just a problem….
I’m no fan of Delta but this Deep State type of conspiracy theory just comes across as unhinged. There may actually be coworkers who are antisemitic but alleging a vast Delta-wide conspiracy is just weird and hurts the cases of people experiencing actual prejudice.