Attorneys for United Airlines say in new court papers that claims against the company by two flight attendants who allege the company removed them in favor of young, white female attendants on its charter flights for the Los Angeles Dodgers should be dismissed.
In court papers filed May 27 with Los Angeles Superior Court Judge William E. Weinberger, lawyers for UAL deny all allegations by flight attendants Darby Quezada and Dawn Todd and contend the claims pertaining to the airline should be tossed out. UAL also seeks attorneys’ fees and costs.
The airline attorneys cite multiple defenses, including violation of the statute of limitations and that the flight attendants have not suffered any damages. The UAL lawyers further contend that “all conduct plaintiffs complain of was undertaken for “legitimate, non-harassing, non-discriminatory, non-retaliatory business reasons” and that the actions were a “just and proper exercise of management discretion undertaken for a fair and honest reason.”
The airline attorneys further maintain that the plaintiffs own conduct constituted “carelessness, negligence, misconduct or bad faith” and that their request for punitive damages is unconstitutional.
Quezada and Todd also are suing the Dodgers. The suit was originally filed in October 2023 and alleges that UAL 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.”
UAL 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.
The Dodgers’ attorney contends that Quezada and Todd exclusively worked for the airline.
Quezada, who is 46 years old and 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 53-year-old Black flight attendant with nearly two decades 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.
Quezada and Todd say they were “abruptly demoted and removed” from the Dodgers’ charter flight program during the 2023 season and replaced by younger, white female flight attendants who were hand-selected without being interviewed.