Airport Harrassment?

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a gurrrrrrrrrrrrl

This is un-suprising but really depressing that people can be so stereotypical. They asume that all unique people are trouble. I could understand if she had chains or other jewelry and decorations on clothes that look a tad violent. I know that your freind is harmless but the people wouldn't know that because then don't know her personally, only by apperance and what they know about and have experianced with people who dresslike your friend. That doesn't make it your freinds fault though. I think she should contact the airport and ask for reasoning, at least.

Rillifane

That behavior is outragoeus and unforgiveable. A letter to the airline and to the Department of Homeland Security are both in order depending on whose employee was involved.

o0o0dancer0o0o

Random checks are not considered harrassment and they have to check people that even seem harmless to avoid being accused of racial profiling amoung many other things. However, if they were calling your friend names such as junkie or whatever, your friend can file a complaint with the airport.. make sure to give as much detail about what happened, when it happened and where in the airport it happened. (They have a ton of airline security and it will be very hard for them to find the person who did it without a name).

Fred

You know, if she was called "junkie" I have a problem with that. That being said, today is a different world than it was 6 years ago. I have traveled around the world and for the most part, even with her treatment, we still do not have good security. Try flying El Al sometime. You want to see a grilling. I once saw a woman get pulled aside becasue they wanted to know why her husband was not traveling with her.
Let's face it, you can choose to dress how you want, but if it falls outside of social norms, you will get extra attention... good and bad. That's why most folks who dress differently do so anyhow - to get attention. Would we all prefer that they just turn a blind eye to something at the risk of offending someone??

Chopperman

Yes.

Complain to the airline, the airport, and the Transportation Security Administration.

Make a LOT of noise.

Renae T

Maybe they thought she was a terrorist.
Contact the media...

robert S

Anyone that falls outside the norms of soviety will be victomised lodge a complaint if you have grounds

julvrug

If a person does not wish to be stopped in an airport, then they should not attempt to stand out. If she appeared that she could be someone of interest, then she will be treated as such. In this day and age, there is no such thing as no reason, because the security has no idea what a person's personality is. If she had been there in conservative dress, she would probably not have been detained. Although people are told not to judge a book by its cover, in order to maintain security, sometimes they have to go by what they see.

Hinata

Well, your friend can write a long and angry letter. Try to be dramatic but don't make stuff up and be sure to include something along the lines of ' I am so disappointed at your staffs behavior of stereotyping and discriminating people. I have not been so insulted in my life! I will not fly with your company again and I am also telling my family and friends not to.'

FlyerJosh

If you ever experience a problem while going through a TSA checkpoint, politely ask for a supervisor (it's one of the people with three gold bars on their shoulder). When you get one, politely express your complaint and see what happens.

If things aren't resolved to your liking, you have three options:

1) Deal with how you are being treated and go through security, then file a complaint later. (More info on that below)

2) Ask to speak with the Airport Security Director. This is the highest ranking TSA person at the airport. You can take your complaint to them.

3. Withdraw yourself for screening. (Say that you'd like to withdraw yourself from screening and voluntarily exit the secure area of the airport). This might work at an airport that has multiple checkpoints (like a big international airport)- you can go find another checkpoint that might have better "service". However be advised that this might result in you getting "flagged" and having somebody follow you to ensure that you aren't a threat.

The best bet is to call as supervisor and see if the issue can't be resolved or to lodge a complaint. If that doesn't work, do your best to be patient and cope with the situation. Make note of the name and employee ID of the person(s) giving you trouble or behaving inappropriately (look for their name tag- it has both the last name and their "badge number").

Once you get away from the checkpoint, you can file a complaint with the TSA.

From the TSA Website:

"If you believe that you or your family have been unlawfully discriminated against, harassed or retaliated against by a TSA employee at a security checkpoint or at an airport or by a TSA program, an external complaint may be filed with the Office of Civil Rights and Liberties.

The Office of Civil Rights and Liberties will review the complaint and an Equal Opportunity Specialist will be assigned to handle your complaint.
The Equal Opportunity Specialistâ€™s responsibility is to attempt to resolve your concern. The Equal Opportunity Specialist may conduct a fact-finding investigation into the alleged discriminatory act or incident.
If a fact-finding investigation is conducted, the Office of Civil Rights and Liberties will review the available facts and will make findings as to whether or not the incident or act complained of constituted unlawful discrimination, harassment, or retaliation. The Office of Civil Rights and Liberties may also recommend measures be put in place, such as conducting additional training, to resolve the concern.
The Office of Civil Rights and Liberties will process external complaints filed up to 180 days after the date of the alleged discriminatory act or incident. However, the ability to conduct a successful fact-finding investigation is greatly limited when an extended period of time has passed between the date of the alleged discriminatory act or incident and the date of receipt of the external complaint."

All TSA employees, current and former, applicants for employment and members of the traveling public may contact the Office of Civil Rights and Liberties.

Phone
(877) EEO 4 TSA - (877) 336-4872 (Toll free number)
(800) 325-0778 (TDD/TTY)
(571) 227-1917 (HQ - TSA local area)

Email
TSA.CivilRights@dhs.gov (for employees, former employees, and applicants for employment)
TSA.OCR-ExternalCompliance@dhs.gov (for members of the traveling public)

By Mail
Transportation Security Administration
Office of Civil Rights and Liberties (TSA-6)
601 S. 12th Street
Arlington, VA 22202

Alternatively, if you feel that there has been inappropriate or criminal behavior, you can contact the Department of Homeland Security Office of the Inspector General:

"If you have knowledge of fraud, waste, abuse, or allegations of civil liberties or civil rights abuses, or mismanagement involving Department of Homeland Security programs or operations, you can:

Fax DHS OIG Hotline at: (202) 254-4292
Email us at DHSOIGHOTLINE@dhs.gov
Or write:

Department of Homeland Security
Washington, DC 20528
Attn: Office of Inspector General, Hotline

When making a report convey as much information as possible such as: Who? What? Where? When? Why? How? Complaints may be made anonymously or you may request confidentiality."

Hope this helps!
~J

Mike W

your friend can go to court if she feels that she was handled unfairly, which in the question suggest that she was.
But they could of had a tip off, probably by somebody who thought she had somthing to hide.
She deffo has a point with the junkie thing, if she writes to the airport big cheese then she will at least get a letter of appolagy

gadgetki

worse

Questioning Machine

i am not sure if my experience can relate to your friend's but i had an issue similar.

i heard that there is this new study, that randomly selects passengers and checks them.

when i checked in, they gave me my boarding pass and stamped it with a code (SSSS). i was allowed to "cut" the line and didnt have to wait.
once in front, they searched me THOROUGHLY and wrote my name down and reported everything.
yea i felt victimized because i used to wear my father's pants and i had to hold them up when my belt was off otherwise it would fall when they were searching with their hands

monse r

she shouldn't have to fight for what other poeple think.... she is who she is and the people who "know" her should love her the way she is.... i am a person who dresses up in weird ways but yet i was chosen to become homecoming queen eventhough i've been harrassed and made fun of throughout my years of high school.. so it doesn't matter just as long as she knows she's cared for =]

sahir_molu

I am a south asian girl who has to go through extra security when I am at the airport because of my skin color. Its completly profiling, but really I have never said anything.

A.P.

I'm suspicious of this story, to be honest with you. If she were really cooperative, compliant, and patient, I doubt that there would be any reason for anyone to say anything derrogatory to her. Most people simply want to do their job and get about their day.

That doesn't mean that your story isn't true, I just have a hard time with the idea that she did absolutely nothing to warrant being referred to as a junkie. If this were the case, what I would do if I were you, is contact a representative of whoever it was your friend dealt with, be it TSA, the airline, etc and find out what she can do because the bottom line is, if this really happened and she was absolutely compliant, cooperative, and patient, then whoever called her names should be punished.

Chances are they won't be, since there's no way to prove that this even happened, but she could at least contact a representative of whatever entity she claims she had a problem with and hope to resolve it that way.

The random checks are annoying to be sure, but like I said above, most of the people at the airport that work there just want to clock in, do their job, and clock out and don't want to go out of their way to make someone else's life miserable, kwim? Still, if she was harrassed simply because of her looks, she should at least file some sort of formal complaint in case it happens again.

An even better thing to have done would have been to get the name of whoever was harrassing her. Their name should be clearly visible, although when you're shaken up it's often times hard to think clearly enough to be able to get that kind of information.

Best of luck to your friend, though, hopefully things will go well for her the next time she flies.

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