Posted
1:29 PM
by Michael Fox
Or really on the ground now I should say. Although I have maintained a blog for two years and try to keep in touch with what is going on in the world of blogs, I am generally pretty much out of touch. So I am quite behind in learning of a controversy involving a fellow blogger that intersects with the topic I do write about, employment law. Apparently an unnamed airline, better known as Delta, has grounded the apparently unnamed, but obviously because of her pictures if nothing else, not unknown flight attendant, for posting "inappropriate pictures" on her blog. To make matters worse it appears that this happening in my own backyard since the Queen of the Sky, (the flight attendant's nom de plume) resides in Quirksville, Texas, which sounds as if it might be the same state capital in which I reside.
In better days the blog was titled Diary of A Flight Attendant, but now at least temporarily, is Diary of a grounded Flight Attendant. A summary of the story, and a longer riff on freedom of speech can be found in this post at Cathy's world.
Legal points to be learned from this scenario: First amendment (and other constitutional) rights don't apply to private employers. The Queen of the Sky's charge of discrimination could have merit if employees of the opposite gender have engaged in similar conduct that she is being disciplined for, and Delta was aware of it and did not react in a similar fashion.
