A former Delta Air Lines flight attendant has filed a lawsuit against the company, claiming she was fired after posting a cartoon to Facebook showing then-President Donald Trump wearing a Ku Klux Klan hood.According to The Miami Herald, Delta told Leondra Taylor that it “does not tolerate disrespectful, hateful, or discriminatory posts.”However, Taylor maintains that the cartoon was simply an expression of personal political sentiments.The cartoon, writes The Miami Herald, depicted Trump and Joe Biden standing before a debate moderator, with the moderator saying, “Thank you Mr. President, for wearing your mask.”Taylor, who is Black, alleges that she was fired despite the airline not taking against action White employees who posted social media content of a similar nature.Benjamin Zhang, a Delta spokesperson, told McClatchy News that “when Delta employees intermix Delta’s brand of conduct with conduct or content that does not reflect our values of professionalism, inclusion and respect, that conduct can result in discipline or termination.”Interestingly, Taylor’s lawsuit says that Delta Air Lines only discovered her post after she reported another flight attendant for sharing a race-related post that had “racial implications” and offended her.After Delta Air Lines fired that employee for violating other company policies, the terminated flight attendant retaliated, forwarding another of Taylor’s alleged Facebook posts to the carrier’s human resources department.

A 2014 image of Donald Trump. Image from Flickr via Wikimedia Commons/user:Gage Skidmore. (CCA-BY-2.0).

The post, says The Miami Herald, celebrated Delta’s decision to fire the other flight attendant.While Delta was unable to find the post, investigators did come across the Trump cartoon.During a January 6, 2021, meeting with Delta officials, Taylor admitted that she had, indeed, shared a cartoon of former President Donald Trump wearing a Ku Klux Klan hood.According to Taylor and her lawsuit, the cartoon “made a statement about Trump’s denial of the need for COVID protection measures, and that racial discrimination against African Americans was a systemic issue starting at the top, with the then president.”However, Taylor was told that the Trump post was “not acceptable,” and subsequently fired.Zhang told McClatchy News that “while personnel issues are considered private between Delta and its employees, the circumstances described by our former employee are not an accurate or complete explanation of the company’s termination decision.”Nevertheless, Taylor maintains that she has “been embarrassed, humiliated, and has suffered damages to her emotional health, and has lost back pay and front pay.”The lawsuit demands a jury trial and seeks to recover damages such as lost wages and anticipated legal expenses.

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