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Polish cabin crew boss sacked for 'body shaming' British Airways staff by calling them unkempt, fat and messy

LOT Polish Airlines said it had sacked Katarzyna Richter for her "unacceptable" behavior and issued an apology to the crew.
UPDATED APR 7, 2020
(Getty Images)
(Getty Images)

An airline boss who 'fat-shamed' and made disparaging and belittling comments about a cabin crew online has been fired.

Katarzyna Richter, the cabin crew operations director at LOT Polish Airlines, the flag carrier of Poland, criticized a British Airways cabin crew on a flight she was taking from Gatwick to Poland for their "double chin, rotten, and uneven teeth," according to the Sun.

Richter secretly snapped pictures of the crew as they were working and shared them online, writing, "Today, my attention was drawn to grooming and appearance of British Airways cabin crew members, unpolished shoes, holes in tights, too tight uniform, double chin, rotten and uneven teeth, messy hairstyle."

She also suggested that the crew was not performing their duties up to par before adding, "By the way, I am curious if you as a passenger judge cabin crew by the way they look?"

The post elicited a furious response from airline staff, who slammed Richter for photographing the crew and sharing their images online without their permission.

"How dare this airline executive invite the public to assess the appearance of a rival carrier's workers," said one British Airlines employee. "The primary job of BA staff is to keep passengers safe."

"This woman should know more than anyone how to behave," the employee continued. "She must be sacked for fat-shaming BA crew while going about their duties. She's a disgrace to her employer and the aviation industry."

The BA employee's opinion was also shared by staff at LOT Polish Airlines, who suggested that Richter had crossed a boundary. "She’s gone way, way too far," one said. "There is no excuse."

Following the backlash, Richter, who brands herself as a "cross-cultural psychologist" and has worked for airlines such as Etihad, Emirates, and Gulf Air, issued an apology for her mean-spirited comments.

"I would like to apologize very much to the British Airways crew and to everyone affected," she wrote. "I regret my behavior — I should not judge the competence and appearance of employees of another airline. I’m sorry again."

But the damage had been done. LOT confirmed that she had been fired and issued an apology for her behavior to British Airlines.

"We are truly sorry for this situation," a spokesperson for the airline told the Daily Mail. "The comments published by one of our employees on the private Facebook profile are contrary to the applicable standards and the value system adopted at LOT Polish Airlines."

"Such behavior is unacceptable and will not be tolerated by our company, therefore we decided to terminate the co-operation with Mrs. Richter with immediate effect."

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