Attorneys for Envoy Air Inc. have responded to the lawsuit allegations of a Black former worker who alleges she was wrongfully fired in 2021 for complaining about being rushed through stored aircraft safety inspections, saying the plaintiff was fired for “repeated insubordination to her supervisors.”
Plaintiff Faatima Saleema Floyd’s Los Angeles Superior Court lawsuit alleges discrimination, harassment, retaliation, failure to prevent discrimination, harassment and retaliation, breach of contract and intentional infliction of emotional distress. The 34-year-old Floyd seeks unspecified compensatory and punitive damages in the suit brought Dec. 13.
In court papers filed Friday, lawyers for Envoy Air — a wholly owned subsidiary of American Airlines Group — maintain Floyd’s attorneys are abusing the discovery process and that the plaintiff’s claims lack merit.
“The facts are simple,” the airline’s lawyers argue in their court papers. “Envoy Air … employed plaintiff Faatima Saleema Floyd as a fleet service clerk at Los Angeles International Airport until it terminated her on Nov. 24, 2021, for repeated insubordination to her supervisors.”
Floyd admits that she told her supervisor, Christopher Kline, “You suck as a manager,” according to the airline’s attorneys’ court papers, which also state that the plaintiff hoarded Envoy’s vans that are used to transport employees around LAX so they can quickly service landing aircraft.
“Even assuming, arguendo, these claims are actionable, they are exceedingly basic,” Envoy’s attorneys argue in their court papers. “Despite this fact, plaintiff’s discovery conduct has been very broad and aggressive.”
The airline’s lawyers are asking for relief from the discovery requests in a hearing scheduled May 19 before Judge Douglas W. Stern.
Floyd was hired in May 2016 and her duties were to conduct safety inspections on stored aircraft, the suit states. She spoke out when she believed she was being hurried by supervisors to sign her approval of the safety checks, the suit states.
In November 2020, Floyd was asked to complete a safety check for a cargo flight she needed about two hours to complete it, the suit states. However, she was only given two crew members for the job and was told to perform the task in 45 minutes, according to the suit.
When Floyd explained to a supervisor that 45 minutes was not enough time, the boss replied, “You know what to do. Go in there and make it look good. It’s a cargo flight. You don’t need to go through everything since there were no passengers,” the suit states.
Throughout Floyd’s employment, the supervisor spoke to Floyd and other minority employees in a different tone of voice and used offensive language, including “Hey, Faatima girl,” when calling the plaintiff while trying to sound like a Black woman, the suit states.
When another safety check incident happened a short time later with another boss, Floyd did not receive any cargo aircraft assignments for a few months, according to the suit.
When Floyd’s assignments resumed, another safety check incident occurred July 2021 and involving a third supervisor and an international flight, prompting the plaintiff to speak out over the boss’ criticism of the pace of her team’s work and say, “Chris, you suck at what you do. We ask management for support, but it’s never given,” the suit states.
Floyd denied the supervisor’s insinuation that she used foul language toward her boss, saying, “I don’t have a personal issue with you, but, in terms of this, it’s personal when it comes to the job.”
In a November 2021 meeting with a fourth supervisor, Floyd was told she was being fired for aggressive behavior toward a manager, the suit states.
Floyd responded, “I know I questioned things and that’s why I’m being terminated,” the suit states.
Floyd continues to suffer humiliation, emotional distress and physical pain because of her firing, the suit states.