Whistle blowers must know they’re treading on thin ice–particularly within private industries–if they criticize the management, or working conditions. Even unions will have an uphill battle defending members who face such opposition after they’re fired, suspended or demoted. We should all applaud this effort and the outcome, but this should be a cautionary example of how rocking the boat is risky business.
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Congratulations Capt. Karlene Pettit.
“Delta vowed to appeal the award in the name of safety but made a “business decision” and folded its case last week.”
Is Delta implying that Capt. Pettit’s thesis on safety is valid? If so, the FAA should follow up since Delta has declined to do so.
“Safety, comfort, schedule”, what used to be Delta’s motto.
“The airline paid a since-discredited doctor $76,000 to supply the diagnosis, which was twice refuted, including by a panel of Mayo Clinic experts.”
And for this she only got $500,000?
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If the $500,000 is back-pay, she’ll owe income tax on it, and her lawyer 33%-40% off the top. It won’t leave much.
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She got more than the cash. She got reinstated as a trans-oceanic captain. If the settlement is public, we can see, but most of these will carry a non-disclosure. There’s probably back pay and benefits costs. She also has a Delta that will be very careful when it tries to get rid of her again. She will go back to a hostile work environment, but DL will be worried about losing another lawsuit. And she likely completed her Ph.D. and post-doc. Never good for anyone, but this case is a warning for everyone from your local flight instructor to the CEO of the majors to behave. Unfortunately there will be another coming to a airport near you, someday sooner than later.
I see FOUR stripes on her shoulders. Delta should be ashamed, and needs to be punished more. As an aside, her settlement is tax-free, but her lawyers earned every penny they got. I hope Delta’s attorneys overcharged the airline.
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Agreed, her gross income should have been in the 1.2 million range over 6 years. Was the 500K punitive award on top of back pay? No attorney fees awarded? I’d say Delta won this one.
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Any company that behaves this way toward their employees, is not deserving of public trust. Keep it up Delta. You have lost my trust.
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Great! Congratulations for this brave woman! Beat it lady! Beat it hard! Corruption has no place in America! well, it’s spread all over…Looks like brave people start to pop up all over America! yay! there’s hope!
“The airline paid a since-discredited doctor $76,000 to supply the diagnosis…”
So, first, this “doctor” needs to loose his/her license if, in fact, they were discredited for this or some other misdeed.
Second, this “doctor” also needs to be sued by Capt. Petitt (especially if it can be shown that the doc knew they were rubber stamping the airline’s opinion in exchange for money).
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Good to see the comments here are supporting the maligned Captain.
Isn’t that what SMS is for? Such a shame for this entire episode. If I was a shareholder, I would insist on the management’s heads who pursued this.
Yeah, a safety “whistle blower” at an airline that has the safest record over the period of this first officer’s employment (she wasn’t a captain, her PhD comes from an online program at Embry Riddle, and the paltry award speaks volumes).
I wonder if our last FAA administrator resignation might be partially a result of this court case?
Mental fitness is a huge issue for all airlines, especially after the high profile case of a pilot deliberately crashing his Airbus and killing everyone onboard.
Dealing with a pilot suspected of a mental illness requires a very delicate balance between respecting the rights of the pilot with the need to ensure they are safe to operate as a crew member.
Mishandled, as it was apparently done by Delta is not good. Obviously not good for the individual involved but also not good for the company culture. A company culture where pilots think management will as the judge noted “weaponize” mental health investigations, is not conductive to pilots reporting potential mental health issues so they can get help.
Six years? It appears Delta concocted a scheme to hammer her because of the the Ph.D thesis and since they went “woke” awhile back I will NOT be flying with them. They should be ashamed but won’t be. Wonder what THEIR legal fees were? She is back flying and that’s good for her.
Lets just say I have a lot of inside information about this company. It’s become one of the “wokest” companies in the US. They tried to force employees to wear BLM pins on uniforms during the peak of the 2020 summer riots. That should tell you all you need to know.
Lol. Whistleblowers in most private companies are risking their careers and finances. The real brave ones are in the military or government risking life and freedom. ?
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a"doctor" involved in this masquerade would be in my sights for a big fat lawsuit…goes to show how senior airline management view safety, good for this Captain she took action, wonder ALPA was when this all went down…this actually their job…thats what they paid (handsomely) for
Well, a little additional research revealed the $500k is a damages payment on top of back pay.
If I am not mistaken I thought i read where the Doctor lost his credentials and is no longer practicing. I agree that Captain Petitt should should sue but it would be difficult to collect unless the medical practitioner carried significant insurance.
found this in another article:
To start, Petitt had her job reinstated after the Mayo Clinic panel sided with her; for quite some time she has been back to flying wide body jets out of Seattle
Delta has had to pay Petitt $500,000 as compensation, in addition to paying for years of legal fees
The doctor who diagnosed Petitt as having bipolar disorder forfeited his medical license, rather than facing charges over his conduct
The judge overseeing the case ruled it “improper for [Delta] to weaponize this process for the purposes of obtaining blind compliance by its pilots”
yea, this piece was a bit lacking…
Many types of damages are tax free, but back pay is generally taxable, as that pay would have been if she received it normally.
The military is supported by taxes, and folks who pay those taxes are not enamored of certain activities that will paint the management in an unfavorable light. Two F-22 pilots discovered that their careers would end when they appeared on television to deride their plane, describing faults that would cause fatal mishaps. There’s BIG MONEY involved in those programs, so it’s not beyond the realm of possibility that elements within that industry and their military counterparts might engage in extortion to remain on the public dole.
Let’s not overdo it… If airlines were constantly subject to such punitive measures, they’d be Chapter Eleven’d before you could say “Boo”.
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From: https://christinenegroni.com/doc-who-called-delta-pilot-bipolar-surrenders-medical-license/
The physician who came close to ending a Delta pilot’s 30-plus year flying career by diagnosing her with bipolar disorder has permanently surrendered his license to practice medicine in Illinois.
Even before Petitt had heard of Dr. Altman, another Delta pilot involved in his own, unrelated dispute with Delta, filed a complaint against Altman with the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation. He was also ordered by Delta to submit to an exam by Dr. Altman. When Michael Protack balked at returning for more analysis with the doctor, Altman sent him a threatening letter, suggesting his lack of cooperation could result in a diagnosis that would put an end to Protack’s professional piloting career.
you must be kidding…500k in damages is a rounding era amount of money for delta
One would have thought a paper on safety culture within the company would have led to some soul-searching and reflection. Maybe criticism. Not this.
Actually, in my view this action by the company actually strengthens the findings in her paper.
Respect for this captain to have endured such a witch-hunt, and shame to any and all ‘managers’ that have in any way supported the actions of Delta towards her.
There’s a delicate balance between business concerns and safety issues. Airlines walk a very thin line with their operations, with the FAA, Unions and Legal System breathing down their necks to regiment more restrictions. This pilot may have had her heart in the right place, but in business parlance, she’s a loose cannon who could grab each of those agencies on their case. Deregulation was a viable scheme to help the airlines develop new routes and profit where thin milk would formerly be prevalent. Unfortunately, obstacles to those schemes arise from all quarters to inhibit progress and ingenuity.
First Officer, Karlene Petitt’s case, highlighting Delta Airlines workplace violence and retaliation is a common practice in the airline industry that presents a Clear and Present Danger to the flying public as we know it. This is supported by the Dark Money controlled government regulatory agencies who are supposed to protect pilots (safety keepers of the sky), but instead they sustain airline corruption to create the “perfect compliant pilot,” by putting fear in pilots across the industry from enforcing airline safety and security.
United Parcel Service (UPS) has been using EXTREME measures to commit 18 USC crimes, with impunity, to target myself, Captain Douglas Walter Greene and over 155 UPS pilots that we know of, who dared to enforce airline safety & security. This has created a UPS pilot workforce that is terrified to “Say Something, if They See Something.” With over 6000 pages of overwhelming evidence “Beyond Reasonable Doubt,” to include audio files, transcripts, and more, I have personally spent the last 10 years of my life and over a half million dollars simply trying to “Get My Day in Court” by a rigged system that is controlled by corporate Dark Money to sequester justice from overt acts of workplace violence & retaliation against the American Worker.
Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) documents prove that both First Officer, Karlene Petitt and I, both had our AIR21 Whistleblower cases unlawfully dismissed. First Officer, Karlene Petitt and I, had the same Department of Labor (DOL) Investigator, Paul McDevitt, who blatantly ignored the mandatory 8 elements of the DOL Office of Inspector General (OIG) to conduct a proper investigation. After appeal to an Administrative Law Judge (ALJ), unlike First Officer, Karlene Petitt, my case was unlawfully dismissed by the ALJ, Granting UPS Motion for Summary Judgement, despite THOUSANDS of Material Facts in Dispute. The FOIA documents show overwhelming fraud ignored by BOTH the DOL & the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), while aiding and abetting UPS to conceal countless 18 USC crimes. After filing an appeal to the Administrative Review Board (ARB), my appeal was tampered with and has been sitting on ice with no review since 2016, filed long before First Officer Karlene Petitt’s case. This is the new Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for the face of aviation safety and security in the United States of America.
UPS blatantly committed coercion by forcing troubled pilots with DUI’s to write false statements, to include UPS overtly falsifying FAA records in violation of their own business code of conduct that demands integrity and accuracy in records. UPS CEO, Carol Tome was provided with all the evidence detailing the 18 USC crimes committed, yet she has chosen to do nothing to right the wrong. This illicit corporate culture is the direct result of the fatal aircraft tragedies of UPS 6 in Dubai and UPS 1354 in Birmingham, AL, resulting in the tragic and preventable deaths of pilots, Captain Doug Lampe, First Officer Matthew Bell, Captain Cerea Beal, and First Officer Shanda Fanning. These horrific events were directly related to pilots afraid to “Say Something, when they Saw Something,” in fear of workplace violence and retaliation of discipline up to and including termination to end their careers.
Many are quick to criticize those like First Officer Karlene Petitt and myself, who have sacrificed themselves to be professional in doing what’s right to uphold airline safety and security, until it happens to them for “whatever” reason. Thank you for the opportunity to comment on an excellent article and review of Delta’s heinous crimes of workplace violence and retaliation against First Officer, Karlene Petitt. Please also stand strong with me, Captain Douglas Walter Greene still fighting for JUSTICE, by providing an equal opportunity to be interviewed so as to highlight even more heinous crimes committed by UPS, who has spent over 6 million dollars to conceal their crimes from ever seeing the light of honest adjudication thus far suppressed by the UPS controlled DOL, FAA, and Federalist Society Dark Money Courts.
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The first time I watched uniformed pilots marching in protest of an airline misdeed, I was shocked. These folks should be treated not only fairly, but with due regard for their knowledge and skills. Tremendous responsibility is weighed upon their shoulders during flights, and airlines have to know that such dedicated individuals don’t grow on trees. Now that the military is obligating their pilot candidates to long terms of service, and the private sector can’t recruit professional pilot candidates for a myriad of reasons (One being the cost of rental planes) airline executives should be on their knees begging crews to stay with their carrier, and stop finagling with their pilots who cite safety concerns about their operations.