AIRLINES: United Airlines Loses Gender Bias Suit

A former United Airlines ramp supervisor who claimed she was fired because of her gender has been awarded $55,000 by a federal jury in a civil rights lawsuit.

Mina Lundien lost her job in 1997 for a safety violation involving the shipping of a box of shotgun shells for the U.S. Olympic team. Lundien had contended that a man in her position would not have been fired.

During last week’s trial before U.S. District Judge Walker Miller in Denver, witnesses cited a variety of safety violations by male ramp workers, who load baggage and fuel airplanes.

None of those violations resulted in firings, and some of the men were not disciplined, witnesses said.

Lundien, who had worked at United for six years, was one of three women out of a total of 36 ramp supervisors.

Associated Press