Airport security worker fired after video shows her passing note to traveler: 'You ugly!'
A security worker at a New York airport has been fired after video footage showed her passing a rude note to a traveler walking through a security checkpoint.
Neal Strassner told WROC that he was walking through a security checkpoint at the Greater Rochester International Airport in Rochester, N.Y. when a security guard handed him a note. As he walked away, she allegedly yelled out to him, "You going to open the note?"
Related Video: Angry Tourist Slaps Airport Security Agent
When Strassner opened the note, which read "You ugly!!!" the employee can be seen bursting out in laughter in the footage from the airport security cameras.
The unnamed employee can then be seen ripping cardboard from what appears to be a box of nitrile gloves, the medical grade latex-free gloves often used by security personnel at airports, and jotting down another note.
UPDATE: The airport security employee has been fired, according to TSA. Here's the video of the employee passing the mean note, laughing about it, and reaching for more paper to begin writing again. #ROC pic.twitter.com/wXLcD8aLwz
— News 8 - WROC-TV (@News_8) August 15, 2019
Strassner told the station that he obtained video of the interaction through a Freedom of Information request. He added that it took over a month for him to receive the footage.
The Transportation Safety Administration (TSA) , through a Screening Partnership Program, hires independent security companies throughout the nation. This employee was not an official TSA or airport employee and was employed through a third party, VMD Corp., a security company based in Virginia.
VMD Corp. did not immediately respond to Yahoo Lifestyle’s requests for comment. However, TSA confirmed the employee had been fired.
A TSA representative provided a statement to Yahoo on the incident.
"TSA holds contractors to the highest ethical standards and has zero tolerance for this type of behavior. This instance, which involved a contract employee, was investigated immediately upon receiving the complaint by the traveler. The employee has since been terminated by the contractor,” the statement said.
Yahoo Lifestyle was not able to locate Strassner for comment. But in an email to WROC, he wrote, "I’m really curious what the other notes said. I travel a lot and the airport normally is spectacular. This was a totally weird event that they [VMD Corp.] seemed to handle properly. I travel a lot and just want to make sure they get some credit to their organization and don’t let one lady trash their whole reputation.”
Read more from Yahoo Lifestyle:
Follow us on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter for nonstop inspiration delivered fresh to your feed, every day.
