NOT JUST A MONKEY, BUT A SHINING MONKEY

United Airlines employee is charged for calling black female passenger 'a shining monkey' when she asked about a refund

By Leah Simpson

Daily Mail
April 23, 2019

A United Airlines employee has been charged with disorderly conduct after a passenger claimed she was repeatedly called a 'monkey' during an incident in Texas two months ago.

Cacilie Hughes, an actress and co-founder of the Big Sister Little Sister Mentoring Program, a nonprofit group, was returning home to Houston on Feb. 26 from a speaking engagement in Michigan when she encountered Ms. Davano.

Hughes alleges that in a shocking rant in the United terminal at George Bush Intercontinental Airport, Carmella Davano referred to her as a 'shining monkey'.

'I walked up to the woman, Carmella, and said, "Hi, do you have a refund code available?" and she started yelling at me, calling me a monkey,' the co-founder of non-profit group Big Sister Little Sister Mentoring Program told the New York Times on Monday.

'I was humiliated, I was crying and I was the only black woman in the area.'

The Houston resident told the publication that she called police after another United employee refused to.

Hughes' allegations were backed up by two witnesses at the scene Houston Police Department told the Times.

Law enforcement issued Davano a citation for profane and abusive language in a public space.

A month later in March a misdemeanor charge was filed in Municipal Court for Houston.

A lawyer for Hughes suggested United could benefit from teaching their staff what's appropriate and what's not.

The Times reports Benjamin Crump claimed United had a pattern of failing 'to train employees to interact with minority customers'.

United told DailyMail.com in a statement: 'At United, we proudly hold ourselves to the highest standards of professionalism and have zero tolerance for discrimination of any kind.

'We have withheld the employee from service since the night of the incident pending an internal investigation. Upon conclusion of the investigation, we will take any and all appropriate corrective action up to and including termination.'