Menggusah Gegara Unggah Card Donald Trump, Mantan Pelayer Ini Gugatat Delta Air Lines

Illustration of the Delta Air Lines fleet. (Wikimedia Commons/formulanone)

JAKARTA - After uploading a cartoon picture of former President Donald Trump wearing a Ku Klux Klan hood on his personal Facebook page, the former Delta Air Lines flight attendant filed a lawsuit.

Plaintiff Leondra Taylor, who is black, admitted he posted a cartoon on his personal Facebook page depicting then-President Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden, in one of the presidential election debates in 2020, according to a lawsuit filed in a federal district court in Atlanta.

In the cartoon, Trump is described as wearing a Ku Klux Klan hood as he stands on the podium across from Biden. The image includes a bubble quote over the head of the debate moderator saying, "Thank you, Mr. President, for wearing your mask."

The image was created by Anislin's editorial cartoonist and published by the Montreal Gazette on October 1, 2020, days after a 2020 first general election presidential debate moderated by Chris Wallace, reported by CNN Aug. 28.

In the debate, Trump was asked by Wallace to criticize the white supremacist and militia groups, in which the President at the time said, "Greet children, step down and stand up."

Delta "founded several political posts that were deemed to have violated its social media policies" during a review of Taylor's Facebook page sparked by other employees, the lawsuit said.

Earlier in January 2021, a group of Delta employees told Taylor that their posts were unacceptable and said the post was not "ridiculous, disrespectful, hateful, or discriminatory," the lawsuit said.

A month later, Delta told Taylor it was meant to "win for his job," and a manager stated that "his political posts were racially motivated," which was given as the reason for the termination, the lawsuit reads.

The lawsuit, which accuses Delta of "discrimination of plaintiffs for its race," argues that Taylor's posts are "political statements, but they have no hatred or discrimination."

He argues the cartoon showing Trump in the mask "at the same time making statements about Trump's rejection of the need for COVID-19 protection measures. That racial discrimination against African Americans was a systemic issue that started from above, with the president at the time."

The lawsuit also accuses non-Africa-American employees in Delta of not being subject to the same punishment for their activities on social media.

Taylor demands general compensation for mental and emotional suffering; compensation for so-called lawsuits as "deliberate, evil acts; and loss of wages.

A Delta spokesperson responded to Taylor's federal lawsuit to CNN in a statement: "When Delta employees mix Delta brands with behavior or content that does not reflect professional values, inclusion, and respect, that behavior can result in discipline or termination of employment.

"While the issue personnel are considered private between Delta and its employees, the circumstances described by our former employees are not an accurate or complete explanation of the company's termination decision."