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TSA Fires Whistle-Blowing Employee After Witchcraft Accusations

April 8, 2011 at 2:43 PM | by | Comments (0)

There are stories where we have to spend some time unpacking why specific TSA behavior is counterproductive or stupid. The controversies over pay/performance bargaining rights and private screeners are not straightforward, and so paragraphs have to be spent on arguments and counterarguments. This isn't one of those posts.

Carole Smith, a practicing Wiccan, was a TSA employee who worked at Albany Airport for 7 months. During that time supervisors rated her performance as "satisfactory," with points taken off for once forgetting her nametag and for occasionally being a few minutes late. Her work was otherwise exemplary. She passed her skills test on the first try, and she was in the top 10 percent at the airport for catching weapons—something TSA workers are notoriously horrible at.

Nonetheless Smith was fired after Mary Bagnoli, a co-worker, accused her of casting a spell on Bagnoli's car heater, causing it not to work. Quote unquote: "Bagnoli reported that she was afraid of Smith because she was a witch who practiced witchcraft."

Apparently TSA officials told Smith that she had to enter a formal mediation session with Bagnoli, who was accusing her of "workplace violence," and to explain that you can't actually cast a hex on a car heater to disable it. Smith objected to the request—no doubt in part because it's screamingly moronic—and she was subsequently fired.

Further investigation showed that Bagnoli, who is still on the job, had been harassing Smith for months and had enlisted coworkers to pile on. TSA employees throughout the airport engaged in high school-style teasing and bullying, including not answering Smith's requests to screen bags, slowing down airport security. Part of the abuse came after Smith reported various safety lapses, including supervisors leaving security gates open.

The writeup on this story is huge—you should read it in full, including the parts where a discrimination judge mocks TSA officials for making up excuses and changing their stories—but we'll sum it up for you. Apparently there are entire airports where the people in charge of our safety act like children, fire whistle-blowers, and believe that spells work in real life. Feel safer now?

[Photo: Immanuel Giel / Wiki Commons]

Related Stories:
· Whistle-blowing witch grounded by TSA [MSNBC]
· Airline Security [Jaunted]
· ALB [Jaunted]

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