Wisconsin Guy Sues United Airlines For Harassment Because His Name
More troubles for United Airlines. This time they are in trouble for allegedly harassing a customer because of his name.
On the heels of bad press for dragging a passenger off one of it's planes in Chicago, United Airlines is in hot water, again. NBC Chicago is reporting that a Wisconsin man has filed a lawsuit against United, alleging that he was harassed by a reservation agent over his name.
The lawsuit was filed in federal court by William J Dicks who claims, while looking for information on a flight back in February, he received harassing calls from a United Airlines employee. Dick's alleges the United Airlines employee placed a 48-minute call to him that he claims contained:
- sexual harassment
- disrespect
- humiliation
So what exactly did the agent say to Dicks?. The United employee allegedly told him his name was “controversial” but that “he like[d] it.” According to NBC Chicago:
"He also asked Dicks what he would do to the agent if the pair were alone and asked if Dicks used “protection” when being intimate with his then-girlfriend.
Now for anyone with an odd last name, it certainly can be traumatic dealing with harassment, especially when growing up. By the time you're older, you are often quite numb to the name calling. But this is not the case for everyone. In Dicks' case
This sequence of events caused [Dicks] to be reminded of the trauma he suffered as a child when he was teased because of his last name.
So what are the grounds Dicks is suing on? The filed lawsuit contends the United Airlines caused him “great emotional stress.” and was an invasion of his privacy.
To make matter worse, the lawsuit also states that the agent asked about his Facebook page and personal photos.