A Jewish Delta Air Lines flight attendant is suing the carrier over a ham sandwich and a Yom Kippur shift

22.09.2024 - 17:15 / insider.com / Delta

Delta Air Lines is being sued by a Jewish flight attendant who is claiming religious discrimination, according to a lawsuit seen by Business Insider.

Flight attendant Sasi Sheva and his attorneys filed a complaint with the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York earlier this week, alleging that Delta had "engaged in a pattern of intentionally discriminating and retaliating against ethnically Jewish, Hebrew and/or Israeli employees," including Sheva.

Sheva, a California resident, has worked for Delta for two-and-a-half years, performing his duties in "a satisfactory manner," the complaint says.

But it then alleges that on July 12, 2022, while on a work trip, Sheva's schedule was changed with late notice and he did not have a chance to eat.

It says that despite his multiple requests, he was refused a "safety break" to get food that met his Kosher, vegetarian diet.

He also asked managers to stop in the concourse "for a few minutes" so he could get a snack, it says.

But despite Sheva's employee profile "clearly stating that he is Hebrew-speaking, Jewish and vegetarian, he was provided with a ham sandwich," the complaint continues.

The suit adds that Sheva complained to a manager about the incident, but "no action was taken to ensure that such an event did not happen again."

Sheva also says in the suit that a request for a day off on Yom Kippur — the holiest day of the Jewish year — in October 2022 was refused by the company, despite him giving them two-and-a-half months' notice.

He claimed the refusal was "in bad faith" and had "no justification."

A Delta spokesperson told Business Insider that the company did not have comment on the litigation, but that "Delta has zero tolerance for discrimination of any kind as part of our deeply-held values as a global airline connecting the world."

The complaint also says Sheva suffered a number of work-related injuries.

In one alleged incident on July 5, 2022, it says Sheva was injured after a vehicle he was traveling in for work hit a parked car. In another incident on September 17, 2023, Sheva is said to have tripped over his suitcase after it became tangled in a seatbelt on board a Delta plane.

Sheva took time off work to recover after both incidents, but the complaint says that Delta "engaged in behavior to belittle" his injuries.

The suit says Sheva is seeking compensatory and punitive damages.