Delta stewardess fired for racy pics
As if Delta wasn’t having enough problems, our hometown airline has taken on the blogosphere.
Ellen Simonetti, a Delta employee who wrote a tantalizing blog called “Diary of a Flight Attendant” and called herself “Queen of Sky,” was suspended indefinitely without pay last week and then fired after posting pictures of herself in uniform — with a couple of extra buttons undone. The caption read, “Q of S should have worn a red push-up bra for this pic!”
Until the picture with her uniform, she had been careful not to identify her employer.
The story of her suspension broke on BBC Online, which reported more than 320,000 hits and catapulted Simonetti to worldwide exposure among Internet newshounds.
Simonetti posted on her blog, queenofsky.journalspace.com, that she was fired effective Monday. The 6-foot-tall, 29-year-old flight attendant, who claims on her blog that she lives in a Texas city called “Quirksville,” immediately changed the name of her blog to “Diary of a Fired Flight Attendant” and posted a picture of herself dressed as Cher at a Halloween party astride a broom. Beneath the Halloween picture, she wrote: “[Monday] would have been Queen of Sky’s eight-year anniversary with Delta Air Lines. See what happens when you hire a witch on Halloween!”
Simonetti told the BBC she started her personal blog in January to help her get over her mother’s death. She always referred to Delta as “Anonymous Airline.” She wrote this weekend that she has sent her resume to Richard Branson of Virgin Airlines.
A Delta spokeswoman in Atlanta said the airline does not discuss internal employee matters.
In an e-mail to CL on Monday, Simonetti said she has hired a Dallas public relations company to handle media inquiries and an Austin law firm to initiate legal action for wrongful termination, defamation of character and lost future wages. She also said she plans to file a discrimination complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
She intends to issue a formal statement this week and to continue posts on her website.
Ellen Simonetti, a Delta employee who wrote a tantalizing blog called “Diary of a Flight Attendant” and called herself “Queen of Sky,” was suspended indefinitely without pay last week and then fired after posting pictures of herself in uniform — with a couple of extra buttons undone. The caption read, “Q of S should have worn a red push-up bra for this pic!”
Until the picture with her uniform, she had been careful not to identify her employer.
The story of her suspension broke on BBC Online, which reported more than 320,000 hits and catapulted Simonetti to worldwide exposure among Internet newshounds.
Simonetti posted on her blog, queenofsky.journalspace.com, that she was fired effective Monday. The 6-foot-tall, 29-year-old flight attendant, who claims on her blog that she lives in a Texas city called “Quirksville,” immediately changed the name of her blog to “Diary of a Fired Flight Attendant” and posted a picture of herself dressed as Cher at a Halloween party astride a broom. Beneath the Halloween picture, she wrote: “[Monday] would have been Queen of Sky’s eight-year anniversary with Delta Air Lines. See what happens when you hire a witch on Halloween!”
Simonetti told the BBC she started her personal blog in January to help her get over her mother’s death. She always referred to Delta as “Anonymous Airline.” She wrote this weekend that she has sent her resume to Richard Branson of Virgin Airlines.
A Delta spokeswoman in Atlanta said the airline does not discuss internal employee matters.
In an e-mail to CL on Monday, Simonetti said she has hired a Dallas public relations company to handle media inquiries and an Austin law firm to initiate legal action for wrongful termination, defamation of character and lost future wages. She also said she plans to file a discrimination complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
She intends to issue a formal statement this week and to continue posts on her website.
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