by Delta Air Lines has settled a lawsuit alleging that a flight attendant was fired in retaliation for supporting union efforts and suffering “sexual assault” during training.
Flight attendant Aryasp Nejat said he was suspended without pay and then fired for making two pro-union anti-harassment posts on social media. He was told his allegation of sexual harassment was being investigated but never received a response.
The lawsuit, filed in 2024, accuses Matthew Miller, a Delta Air Lines flight attendant who was conducting uniform inspections of flight attendants during a graduation ceremony, of “non-consensual and sexually assaultive touching of Nejat by placing Miller’s hands in Nejat’s pants near his genitals and then moving under Nejat’s vest and against Nejat’s chest.”
The lawsuit was settled for an undisclosed amount. Miller did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
“The settlement represents a step toward accountability and healing after a difficult time in my life, and I truly hope my experience helps educate the public, and especially Delta flight attendants, on the importance of a union,” said Nejat, who works as a flight attendant for another major airline. “I firmly believe that Delta values its anti-union campaign over the legal right of its flight attendants to form a union and their legal right to file sexual harassment complaints.”
Nejat said he wanted to use the settlement to cover the cost of his law degree.
Multiple unions, including the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA, the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers and the Teamsters, are working to unionize 29,000 flight attendants at Delta in what is currently the largest single organizing drive in the United States.
Related: Ex-Delta flight attendant files lawsuit alleging retaliation and sexual harassment
Delta has strongly opposed the move. The airline has a union that represents the airline’s pilots and one that represents dispatchers, but not flight attendants – unlike other major airlines, where most workers are predominantly unionized.
“One of the reasons flight attendants unions were originally formed was to stamp out sexual harassment, assault or sexual exploitation and to try to get workers to do what was being asked of them, which was to silence them,” said Sara Nelson, president of the AFA-CWA. “Those were the original reasons we organized over 80 years ago, and we first negotiated seniority and due process in that contract that ensured that at least Aryasp would not have faced retaliation for union support but would have had due process here.”
A Delta Air Lines spokesperson said: “Delta has consistently maintained that its claims are without merit and have been resolved to avoid the costs and distractions of litigation. Delta remains committed to ensuring that all employees are treated consistent with Delta policies and the law.”
