United Airlines worker charged with racially abusing passenger
A United Airlines staffer has been charged for racially abusing a passenger.
Carmella Davano was initially given a citation by the Houston Police Department for profane and abusive language in a public place.
Now she has been charged with misdemeanor disorderly conduct, according to court papers.
Black woman Cacilie Hughes says Davano repeatedly subjected her to racial slurs on February 26 in the United terminal at George Bush Intercontinental Airport.
"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 told the New York Times.
"I was humiliated, I was crying and I was the only black woman in the area."
Hughes asked another employee to call the police but they refused. Hughes then alerted the police herself.
Houston Police Department said two witnesses corroborated Hughes’ account and heard Devano utter racial slurs.
Devano has been off duty since the incident.
"We have withheld the employee from service since the night of the incident pending an internal investigation. Upon conclusion of the investigation, we will take any and all appropriate corrective action up to and including termination," United said in a statement.
"At United, we proudly hold ourselves to the highest standards of professionalism and have zero tolerance for discrimination of any kind."
However an attorney representing Ms. Hughes said United has failed to adequately ‘train employees to interact with minority customers.’
‘Flying while black’ incidents have plagued the industry in recent years.
Two years ago the NAACP took unprecedented action in issuing a travel advisory for African-Americans ‘to exercise caution’ when traveling with American Airlines due to ‘disrespectful, discriminatory or unsafe conditions.’
That led to a revamped diversity and inclusion training program for customer facing employees at the airline.
The NAACP dropped the advisory nine months later after lauding American for its progress.
TravelMole Editorial Team
Editor for TravelMole North America and Asia pacific regions. Ray is a highly experienced (15+ years) skilled journalist and editor predominantly in travel, hospitality and lifestyle working with a huge number of major market-leading brands. He has also cover in-depth news, interviews and features in general business, finance, tech and geopolitical issues for a select few major news outlets and publishers.
Vegas’s Billion-Dollar Secrets – What They Don’t Want Tourists to Know
Visit Florida’s New CEO Bryan Griffin Shares His Vision for State Tourism with Graham
Chicago’s Tourism Renaissance: Graham Interviews Kristin Reynolds of Choose Chicago
Graham Talks with Cassandra McCauley of MMGY NextFactor About the Latest Industry Research
Destination International’s Andreas Weissenborn: Research, Advocacy, and Destination Impact
Graham and Don Welsh Discuss the Success of Destinations International’s Annual Conference
Graham and CEO Andre Kiwitz on Ventura Travel’s UK Move and Recruitment for the Role
Brett Laiken and Graham Discuss Florida’s Tourism Momentum and Global Appeal
Graham and Elliot Ferguson on Positioning DC as a Cultural and Inclusive Global Destination
Graham Talks to Fraser Last About His England-to-Ireland Trek for Mental Health Awareness
Kathy Nelson Tells Graham About the Honour of Hosting the World Cup and Kansas City’s Future
Graham McKenzie on Sir Richie Richardson’s Dual Passion for Golf and His Homeland, Antigua
ADS PRO 
Phocuswright reveals the world's largest travel markets in volume in 2025
Higher departure tax and visa cost, e-arrival card: Japan unleashes the fiscal weapon against tourists
Cyclone in Sri Lanka had limited effect on tourism in contrary to media reports
Singapore to forbid entry to undesirable travelers with new no-boarding directive
Euromonitor International unveils world’s top 100 city destinations for 2025