According to a USA Today article, airport security screeners have the highest employee turnover rate in the U.S. government, and a recent move by Transportation Security Agency (TSA) to pay them $18 million in retention bonuses didn't help a bit, as one in five screeners quit from Oct. 1, 2005, to Sept. 30.
Security screeners are represented by the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE), the largest federal employee union, but are denied collective bargaining rights under the 2001 Aviation and Transportation Security Act. In response to a complaint filed by the AGFE, the United Nation's International Labor Office ruled on Nov. 16, 2006 that the 56,000 security screeners have the right to collective bargaining. The UN's "ruling" is, of course, totally unenforceable under U.S. law.
Screener fired for refusing to do pat down searches
Besides "pawing through luggage" looking for bombs, screeners were directed by the TSA in September 2004 to begin conducting personal "pat down" searches on passengers. Though TSA gave screeners latitude in deciding when a passenger would undergo a pat down, the searches immediately set off a firestorm of complaints. Some passengers reported to the American Civil Liberties Union that they had been denied adequate privacy during the searches and had, in some cases, been subjected to "rough, rude, and humiliating manhandling and groping of their breasts and crotch areas."
It was in this atmosphere that L. J. Coon, a baggage security screener at the Manchester, NH airport, refused to perform full-body pat down searches because of his religious beliefs, and was quickly fired by the TSA.
Originally hired by TSA as a baggage security screener in January 2004, Coon knew that his job of searching checked luggage for explosives would not require him to have physical contact with passengers. A year later, the TSA directed Coon to be cross-trained to work as a passenger screener, a position in which he would be required to perform pat down searches. A life-long Methodist, Coon refused to take the training, claiming that doing full-body searches would violate his religious ideology.
"Asking me to cross such a boundary presents a spiritual dilemma for me," wrote Coon in a letter to his supervisors. "Passenger Screeners must be able to conduct physical searches upon a multitude of human beings. Some are disabled, or incapacitated. Some are resistant for many reasons. My religious Methodist upbringing combined with my spiritual conscience argues with this task. I deeply and continuously question the balance. Working in the baggage area eliminates all doubt of such a spiritual dilemma for me. This life/spiritual choice also includes many other deeply honored life choices that I try to uphold on a daily basis. Consciously invading another person’s privacy, male or female, goes against my 'Do No Harm' beliefs."
Coon states that his TSA manager first sarcastically suggested that he "wear four pairs of gloves," to deal with his objections. The TSA later stated that the manager had "the right to change (Coon's) work responsibilities" at any time.
The TSA declared Coon's refusal to accept the training and job change a form of insubordination and requested his resignation. According to Coon, he was officially fired by TSA in September 2005 and later denied unemployment compensation by the TSA.
During his tenure as a baggage screener at the Manchester Airport, Coon claims to have been nominated as "Screener of the Year" and to have been given cash awards by TSA for his performance. "I had perfect attendance, usually working 60 hours per week, 6 days a week, and was called in on off hours for special situations," writes Coon. "I was also asked to work overtime to cover for all the screeners who were attending cross training class. I did this without question to support the team effort."
Since his firing from Manchester, TSA has offered to re-hire Coon as a baggage screener at McCarran International Airport in Las Vegas and to re-test him for a job as a baggage screener at Dulles Airport in Sterling, VA. However, Coon claims that TSA's refusal to pay him unemployment compensation financially devastated his family and left him unable to pay for relocation expenses. Coon's requests for relocation assistance were denied by the airports and the TSA.
Coon has filed several still-pending complaints against the TSA, including an equal employment opportunity complaint filed in June 2006, with TSA's parent agency, the Department of Homeland Security.
In his complaints, Coon stresses that he would have never accepted a position with the TSA had he known he might be expected to perform pat-down searches.
Coon adamantly objects to suggestions that he may not have adopted his religious beliefs until his bad experience with TSA but notes that "realizing that your job description is looking for explosive devices, invites you to hope you have your life in order."
