Photo: businesstraveller.com
In February this year, Cacilie Hughes was returning home to Houston from Michigan, with a United Airlines flight. That’s when she was insulted by an employee of the airline company because she’s black.
At the George Bush Intercontinental Airport, Hughes approached Carmella Davano to ask for a refund code, Hughes tells the New York Times. All of a sudden, Davano started hurling a racially-charged insult at her, while her colleagues looked on.
“I walked up to the woman, Carmella, and said, ‘Hi, do you have a refund code available?’ and she started yelling at me, calling me a monkey,” Hughes tells the publication. “I was humiliated, I was crying and I was the only black woman in the area.”
Hughes told another United agent on side to call the police, but the agent refused. She called the police herself and they cited Davano for profane and abusive language in public. Two eyewitnesses confirmed to the cops that they had heard Davano call Hughes a “monkey” and a “shining monkey,” but the woman denied she did.
She could have walked away with just a fine for that citation, but she pleaded not guilty to the charge and requested a trial by jury. Consequently, earlier this week, she’s been charged with misdemeanor disorderly conduct and she is to stand trial in June.
In a statement to the NY Times, United says Davano has been suspended since the incident, with the fate of her job depending on the outcome of an internal investigation into the matter. They also say that, “At United, we proudly hold ourselves to the highest standards of professionalism and have zero tolerance for discrimination of any kind.”
Ironically, in 2017, the N.A.A.C.P. (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People) warned all black passengers to “exercise caution, in that booking and boarding flights on American Airlines could subject them disrespectful, discriminatory or unsafe conditions.”
Apparently, not much has been changed since then.
“I walked up to the woman, Carmella, and said, ‘Hi, do you have a refund code available?’ and she started yelling at me, calling me a monkey,” Hughes tells the publication. “I was humiliated, I was crying and I was the only black woman in the area.”
Hughes told another United agent on side to call the police, but the agent refused. She called the police herself and they cited Davano for profane and abusive language in public. Two eyewitnesses confirmed to the cops that they had heard Davano call Hughes a “monkey” and a “shining monkey,” but the woman denied she did.
She could have walked away with just a fine for that citation, but she pleaded not guilty to the charge and requested a trial by jury. Consequently, earlier this week, she’s been charged with misdemeanor disorderly conduct and she is to stand trial in June.
In a statement to the NY Times, United says Davano has been suspended since the incident, with the fate of her job depending on the outcome of an internal investigation into the matter. They also say that, “At United, we proudly hold ourselves to the highest standards of professionalism and have zero tolerance for discrimination of any kind.”
Ironically, in 2017, the N.A.A.C.P. (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People) warned all black passengers to “exercise caution, in that booking and boarding flights on American Airlines could subject them disrespectful, discriminatory or unsafe conditions.”
Apparently, not much has been changed since then.
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