An American woman says she was ‘humiliated’ when United Airlines staff nearly banned her from a flight, claiming that her clothes were inappropriate.
Andrea Worldwide was boarding a flight from Denver, Colorado to Newark, New Jersey on January 13 when a male employee stopped her from getting on the plane, she shared on Facebook.
She was eventually told that her shirt was too low-cut — and only after that humiliation did employees change their minds and let her on the plane.
Low-cut: An American woman says she was ‘humiliated’ when United Airlines staff nearly banned her from a flight, claiming that her clothes were inappropriate
Outfit: She was stopped from boarding, and staff indicated her top was inappropriate
‘I am a professional woman, who employs hundreds of other young professional women, which is why I have decided to take a stand and speak out about the unacceptable behavior of United Airlines staff,’ Andrea wrote on Facebook, while sharing photos of her outfit.
‘I didn’t want to post this, but given the lack of attention to this issue by United, I am given no other choice. ‘
Andrea went on to reveal to the CBS Denver affiliate that she regularly travels to see her long-distance boyfriend in Puerto Rico and has even earned special member status for how many miles she’s clocked with the airline.
She usually dresses the same way, and for this flight wore a black top with a low-cut neckline, which showed a bit of her bralette underneath.
Over that, Andrea was also wearing a cardigan and a scarf, which easily could have been adjusted to cover her chest.
‘For those wondering what ELSE I had on-as friends and family members I contacted did ask me right away-I was also wearing an oversized scarf, a knee-length cardigan, leggings and sneakers,’ she explained on social media.
But as she was trying to board the plane, an employee had her step aside.
‘Last week I was denied boarding onto my flight out of Denver by a male United gate agent,’ she wrote. ‘At first I thought it was because I had a ripped ticket, but I later learned that it was because of what I was wearing.’
Embarrassed: Andrea Worldwide was boarding a flight from Denver, Colorado to Newark, New Jersey on January 13 and says she was ‘humiliated’
Angry: She was eventually allowed to board, but she turned down a $200 voucher and wants to make sure other women don’t experience the same thing
Speaking to CBS, she then recalled: ‘I didn’t get a reason at first, and then there was a little bit of shuffling going on with the other employees.’
She was eventually told that her low-cut shirt was problematic, but only after several members of staff had made opposing comments about her ensemble.
‘After about 20 minutes, a female supervisor (Monica) arrived and when I asked her for more information about what was going on and why this was happening, she did apologize but also commented to me that my shirt was in fact “too revealing”, which means United’s male gate agent felt it was necessary to protect the other passengers from me, or he wanted me to stick around just a little longer so he could stare at me for his own pleasure…Who knows!’ she wrote.
Ultimately, however, she was allowed to get on the plane, and was also offered a $100 travel voucher, which she refused, even when that was seemingly doubled by staff members.
‘I’m completely humiliated, embarrassed, confused. I feel like all eyes are on me,’ she said.
‘Two hundred dollars doesn’t even compare to the humiliation that I faced,’ she said. ‘If another female has to face this, I’d rather get the word out and maybe they’ll choose a different airline.’
The airline told CBS4 that they are speaking to Andrea directly about the problem.
‘At United, our goal is for our customers to feel welcome and have a comfortable journey. We are reaching out to our customer to better understand what happened,’ said the statement.