Frontier and United Airlines face federal wage theft lawsuits in Colorado – The Durango Herald

Two separate federal lawsuits in Colorado allege wage theft by Frontier and United Airlines — including that Frontier employees worked up to 16 hours a day without required breaks or overtime, and United flight attendants were not paid their full wages while flights were grounded.

The same firm, HKM Employment Attorneys in Denver, filed both lawsuits. They are seeking class-action status for the cases.

In Frontier’s case, it’s unclear how many employees are affected, but Abby Zinman, one of the plaintiffs’ attorneys, said it’s potentially “dozens and dozens.”

The three named Frontier plaintiffs are Chiquita Joyner, Helen Dixon and Tajahne Hobley. Zinman said the plaintiffs are low-wage workers, women and people of color.

“They feel very exploited and, frankly, just overworked and mistreated,” Zinman said. “I feel like there’s a cultural factor in working there, that it’s just ‘you work as much and as hard as we need you to, if it’s sixteen hours without breaks, that’s what you’re going to do,’ and that comes from Borderland.”

Frontier is an ultra-low-cost carrier that charges customers for various extras, such as carry-on luggage. Only small “personal items” are allowed on board the plane, without the need to pay an additional fee. Zinman said Frontier pays commissions to customer service agents for retaining passengers who exceed that size limit.

“One of the allegations in this case is that Frontier finds really minimal reasons to take this commission away from its employees,” Zinman said. “It’s another element of compensation that we believe is entirely due to the class members.”

Frontier does not comment on ongoing litigation.

For purposes of United’s lawsuit, it is estimated that “hundreds” of flight attendants in Colorado are potential members of a class. The named plaintiffs are Katie Harrison, who worked for United from 2015 to 2023, and Carl-Leslie Senosier-Messan, who has worked for United since 2022.

It is alleged that United failed to pay employees full wages for hours worked while the plane was not in motion, in violation of Colorado wage law.

United’s policy, according to the lawsuit, is to pay flight attendants for flight hours, which is “the time between when pilots are released from their break at the beginning of a flight and when the plane comes to a stop at the end of the flight.”

But in reality, flight attendants are on duty before and after the flight. “Because they were in uniform and on duty, Plaintiffs and the remaining class members had an obligation to address any passenger concerns, perform pre-flight duties, and (in the event of multiple United delays) provide passengers with regular water service on non-flying flights. working hours,” according to the lawsuit.

The lawsuit alleges that for these duties, flight attendants receive a per diem allowance of approximately $2 per hour, in violation of Colorado wage law.

A United spokesman said the company did not want to comment on the matter.

To read more articles from Colorado Public Radio, visit www.cpr.org.

Copy link to article