The former special counsel for the U.S. Department of Justice during the Iran-Contra affair has applied to join the team of lawyers representing the Dodgers in a lawsuit filed by two longtime United Airlines flight attendants who accuse UA and the team of favoring youthful white female flight attendants on its charter flights for the reigning World Series champions.
The lawyer, Dan K. Webb, also led “Operation Greylord” while a member of the U.S. Attorney’s Office and successfully prosecuted 76 corrupt judges, police officers, court clerks, and lawyers.
Webb, 79, is currently the co-executive chairman of the international law firm of Winston & Strawn in Chicago. He needs permission from a judge to take part in the Dodger case because he is not licensed to practice law in California. A hearing is scheduled Sept. 23 before Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Gail Killefer.
The Iran-Contra affair was political scandal centering on arms trafficking to Iran from 1981-86 that was allegedly facilitated by senior officials of former President Reagan’s administration. “Operation Greylord” was an investigation into alleged political corruption in the judiciary of Chicago and Cook County.
The flight attendants, Darby Quezada and Dawn Todd, allege that UA engaged in discrimination by removing the only minority female flight attendants from the Dodgers charter flights and replacing them with “young, white, thin women who did not have to interview for the highly coveted positions.”
United twice removed the case to federal court on jurisdictional grounds, but each time a federal judge sent the case back to Superior Court. While the case was in federal court, the plaintiffs’ lawyers added the Dodgers as defendants.
Quezada, who is of Mexican, Black and Jewish descent, claims she was called the “flight’s maid” because they needed “a Mexican to clean the bathrooms,” was told to stop speaking Spanish with a Dodgers player because “We are in America” and endured antisemitic comments such as “you know Jesus died for you even if you don’t believe’ as well as “you don’t look Jewish,” the suit alleges.
Todd, a Black flight attendant with over 17 years of experience at the airline, alleges she suffered retaliation after complaining about the demotion of Black flight attendants, the denial of benefits and perks to Black flight attendants on the Dodgers flights and the racism and ageism she allegedly experienced herself.