Jewish flight attendant who was served a ham sandwich accuses Delta Air Lines of anti-Semitism

A Jewish flight attendant accused Delta Air Lines of anti-Semitism and discrimination. During a meal break on the Atlanta-based airline, he was served a ham sandwich despite his request to take a break and purchase vegetarian food that would meet his religious needs.

Sasi Sheva of Encino, California, also accused Delta of not granting him leave to commemorate Yom Kippur, the holiest day in Judaism, despite repeated requests to accommodate his religious needs.

In a 21-page complaint recently filed in a New York district court, Sheva and his attorney explain why they believe Delta Air Lines “intentionally discriminates against and retaliates against ethically recognized Jewish, Hebrew and Israeli employees based on their race and ancestry.”

Sheva, who has worked as a flight attendant for Delta from its New York JFK location for the past two and a half years, says the pattern of discrimination began in July 2022, when his schedule was suddenly changed in the middle of a trip.

Due to the last-minute change, Delta arranged for Sheva to be picked up from his hotel and taken directly to the plane, but managers reportedly refused his multiple requests to purchase vegetarian food at an airport counter that met his dietary needs.

Even as he walked through the airport concourse to the gate, his superiors reportedly refused to allow him to purchase a vegetarian snack and instead forced him to rely on the food Delta provides to flight attendants on board its aircraft.

Even though Delta knows that Sheva is Jewish, he was served a ham sandwich as a meal on board the plane.

Several months later, Sheva tried to obtain a religious concession from Delta that would allow him to skip Yom Kippur, which is a holiday marked by fasting and almost all-day attendance at synagogue.

Despite going through a formal accommodation process and explaining his religious needs to several managers, Sheva claims Delta arbitrarily denied his request to postpone Yom Kippur because it would interfere with the airline's seniority system.

Sheva's time at Delta was marked by accidents: the first was when a hotel van he was traveling in for work was involved in an accident, and the second was when his suitcase got caught in a seatbelt, causing him to trip and fall in the aisle.

After both accidents, Sheva had to take time off work for medical treatment, but after the second incident, Delta reportedly harassed him and tried to “downplay” the extent of his injuries.

He also claims that his supervisors targeted and retaliated against him for raising work-related concerns, including confronting him after completing a 12-hour workday and arbitrarily removing him from an on-call trip.

The lawsuit alleges that Delta has faced “multiple” complaints about mistreatment of Jewish and Israeli employees, and that the airline has previously faced similar lawsuits from disgruntled employees who have accused the airline of discrimination.

Delta's lawyers have not yet responded to the lawsuit, which alleges discrimination and retaliation.

In July, Delta again found itself in the middle of a controversy over anti-Semitism after a flight attendant was observed wearing a Palestinian flag pin on her uniform. Although Delta was not in violation of any regulations at the time of the incident, the company quickly adjusted its uniform and grooming policies to prohibit crew members from wearing Palestinian flag pins.

The Association of Flight Attendants (AFA-CWA), which seeks to represent Delta's non-union flight attendants, criticized Delta's decision to give in to public pressure on the issue.

“Instead of fighting back against the harassment, Delta has made the shocking decision to give in to the demands of those targeting flight attendants by changing its policy: banning all flag pins except the United States flag,” the union said.

“This change not only violates Delta's commitment to inclusivity, but also has a chilling effect on all employees and passengers who are deemed 'not American enough' by a handful of hateful individuals.”

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