United Airlines has agreed to pay $99,000 to settle a discrimination case where an Asian American employee, Alsunbayar Davaabat, alleged that a supervisor had verbally and physically assaulted him at the Denver catering facility during the pandemic. The incident highlighted the rise in anti-Asian hate and discrimination during the COVID-19 pandemic. Davaabat resigned due to the lack of action by the company following the incident. The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission stated that the allegations demonstrated how public hostility towards Asian Americans manifested as workplace discrimination. United Airlines removed the manager involved in the incident after an investigation and offered Davaabat the chance to return, which he declined.
The incident occurred when Davaabat and a co-worker were told to pull up their masks by a manager, who then verbally attacked Davaabat with a racial slur and physically assaulted him. Despite reporting the attack, Davaabat did not receive any follow-up from the company and chose to resign. The company later initiated an investigation but did not take appropriate action, leading to further discrimination and harassment of Davaabat.
As part of the settlement, United Airlines will also give Davaabat 75,000 flight miles, review its equal employment opportunity policies, and implement a new workplace violence policy to ensure timely investigations of physical threats. The complaint also revealed that Davaabat had been experiencing discrimination and harassment from coworkers prior to the incident, with management failing to address the issue despite being aware of the behavior.
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