| Table of Contents Being Cabin Crew | The Ugly Truth Part 4 Page 1 – Bart’s Performance Appraisal Page 2 – Bart’s Response Page 3 – Bart’s Response (cont.) Page 4 – Behaviour/Conduct in Atlanta Page 5 – Adult Content Page 6 – My Behaviour in Atlanta 1 Page 7 – Bart’s Complaint Finale Being Cabin Crew | The Ugly Truth Part 6 |
Back to; My Behaviour in Atlanta
When I mentioned the video to a friend/colleague and also to the union rep’ who accompanied me to many of the meetings, both told me it had been widely shared around the company. Tommy worked in recruitment when he wasn’t flying as cabin crew.
So I was accused of saying I’m going for a tommy tank completely out of the blue. As if it’s something you would just come out with to a bunch of virtual strangers. The fact we had someone on the crew called Tommy who’s from London and is a bit of a cockney is of course purely coincidental.
It’s alleged I made the comment either whilst at the Crew Check-In Desk in the basement of the hotel or according to Mia, at dinner. Had I made the comment in either of these areas there were no other hotel guests present. Yet according to the Head of Cabin Crew I still shouldn’t have repeated it.
Tommy is a pleasant enough person but he wasn’t totally honest about me in his witness statement. Here’s some of his responses.
He had clearly colluded with Bart or more likely Anna but his statement was strange. I get the feeling despite being friends with Anna he didn’t like Bart.
What body language demonstrates someone doesn’t find someone approachable? Bear in mind we were working in a small and very busy environment.
Regarding point 43, in their witness statements Katrina, Lottie, Claire, the Captain and First Officer all said they found me to be friendly, professional and approachable.
Bart, Anna, Ven, Peter and Mia say they did not find me approachable but then nothing they said about me was positive or even nice. Much of what they said in their statements was blatant lies.
In a later point Tommy clarifies the “bad language” was in reference to a video of a swearing reindeer that was shown on the bus to the airport in Atlanta. It was not shown by me. This video was shown by the First Officer to whoever wanted to watch it.
Several crew state in their witness statement they did not see Bart and I talking alone at any time.
Bart, Anna, Mia, her travelling companion, Peter, his travelling companion and Ven met in Tommy’s room in the hotel for pre-dinner drinks. Two other crew members who didn’t return their witness statements were also present.
This group sat together on one table at dinner. After dinner they went to a karaoke bar together. Yet when T was asked about Bart’s behaviour in Atlanta he said;
I’ve mentioned previously this was character assassination. Ex police officer Bart painted a nasty and hateful picture of me to support his lies.
You may recall from an earlier screenshot that Anna states she spoke to a cabin crew line manager prior to her next flight to complain about “my behaviour”. Having spoken to that manager whilst compiling my defence she told me the only thing Anna whilst accompanied by Mia complained about was the email they received from me on their days off.
(Bart) I saw Laurence in the hotel corridor as all of our rooms were on the same floor. He walked past me and did not acknowledge or speak to me. I realise we can look different in uniform and in civilian clothes, however it is easier to spot male crew members. He chose to ignore me. I saw him again about 20 minutes later in the same corridor, I was with a female crew member (Anna), and again he walked straight past ignoring us both. Harassment; deliberately excluding staff
Although not in uniform, we are representing {the airline’s name} at the hotel and to completely ignore people, crew or other guests is simply rude. I have no doubt that Laurence knew it was me and decided to ignore me. Harassment; deliberately excluding staff
(Laurence) This paragraph is another lie. I didn’t see Bart or Anna (both of whom are a couple) in the corridor when I left my room. Anyone who’s been to the Atlanta hotel will know the corridors are not that wide so to walk past anyone whether they be crew or a guest without acknowledging them would be extremely difficult.
I had no reason not to be friendly towards them. I was totally unaware of Bart’s feelings towards me at this time. Anna and I had hardly spoken during the flight and I definitely hadn’t spoken to her in the hotel lobby as she claims.
Whilst off sick in the weeks after the initial investigative meeting I asked someone to take a photo of the hotel corridor.
I sent it as part of my defence by WhatsApp to crew manager Hayley. She was carrying out the second part of the grievance investigation. She never added a hard copy to the file and I forgot to send a copy when I subsequently submitted my appeal to the Head of Cabin Crew.
Despite making reference to this photo several times the Head of Cabin Crew never asked to see it. Having realised it was missing from the file I sent her a copy.
The screenshot lower down comes from Anna’s witness statement. Throughout this sociopath’s diatribe she refers to Bart and me by our surnames. CM means Crew Member, FSM means Flight Service Manager (aka FM, Flight Manager). The Gatehouse is the Cabin Crew Check-in area at Heathrow.
In Bart’s complaint he states I ignored him in the Gatehouse but doesn’t say I ignored his fiancée Anna. Bear in mind at that time I was unaware they knew each other and had never met either of them previously. It was also Christmas Eve.
Bart and Anna claim I ignored them in the hotel corridor whilst on their way to Tommy’s room for pre-dinner drinks. Despite what would have been a strange and unpleasant encounter had it genuinely taken place, they never said anything about it to anyone.
What was so cunning about this accusation is that before going down for dinner I went to the hotel shop and then returned to my room. They had obviously seen me because they state they saw me twice in the corridor. I never saw them. The hotel is open plan with glass elevators so it wouldn’t have been difficult for them to see me.
According to witness statements from the rest of the crew, nobody was aware of me ignoring or excluding anyone at any time.
Have another look at the photo above at the width of the corridor. Anna states “we crossed paths and were as close as an arm’s reach.” The corridor is not wide enough for three people to pass each other side by side.
Part of Bart’s comment above he says “I have no doubt Laurence knew it was me and decided to ignore me.” Imagine how close we would have been had we really passed each other. Yet he said nothing about the encounter to anyone. Just like he said nothing about the alleged inappropriate touching on the aircraft despite openly criticising my performance and ability to other crew members whenever I left the galley.
Once again you’ll be amazed at what crew manager Lana said regarding this incident in the outcome to her investigation. I’ll share that with you in a later chapter.
(Bart) At the drinks/food, Laurence sat on a different table to me and did not come over to speak to our table. When we left and went out for drinks, the other table were invited, a few crew came but Laurence did not.
(Laurence) The crew arranged pre-dinner drinks in Tommy’s room. I was not invited. The first I knew about the gathering was when Katrina told me. She said she thought “they were all going to get pissed which wasn’t her thing” so her, Claire and Lottie were meeting in her room for a quiet drink before going to dinner. She said I was welcome to join them.
After resting for a while I went to the shop in the lobby. I then returned to my room to take some medication and then went to Katrina’s room. We could hear the rest of the crew who were nextdoor.
On the sign-in sheet below, PUR (purser) is adjacent to Tommy and Katrina’s name. With my room being at the end of the corridor I had a long walk to the lift. That would have given Bart and Anna plenty of opportunity to see me.
When I came out of my room I took a photo of the hotel.
When I arrived at Katrina’s room Claire and Lottie were already there. We chatted over a drink and then went downstairs. We were told dinner would start at 6pm. When we arrived Bart, Anna and other members of the crew were seated at a large table. They were already eating.
Apart from there not being room for us to join them they were younger and noisier than us so we sat on a second table that had been laid up by the hotel.
When the Captain and First Officer arrived they joined us. Eye contact and a few random friendly comments were exchanged between the two tables. There were no other hotel guests in this area.
The other table were drinking heavily and the Captain asked me to have a word with crew member Peter. He was the youngest in the crowd and very intoxicated.
Once we finished eating the others said they were going to a karaoke bar and asked us to join them. I was tired and had no intentions of going out. I had swapped on to this trip because it was a nightstop, I was originally on a four night Seattle. The reason for me swapping was because my dad was very poorly and I didn’t want to be away for longer than necessary.
My dad has since passed away as my manager will confirm. This is why I was in no mood to go out not that I need to explain myself.
Katrina and Claire were initially reluctant to go but then changed their mind. They tried unsuccessfully to convince Lottie, the Captain, First Officer and I to go.
(Bart) In the morning of the outbound sector, I looked at Laurence to acknowledge him however he ignored me again. In all honesty, I felt intimidated by him and did was really dreading the flight back. I am professional and can work in a courteous manner, and so knew I could still provide a good service to our passengers despite feeling demotivated and disliked. This is the first time I have ever felt like this on a flight. Harassment; deliberately excluding staff. Bullying; overbearing supervision.
(Laurence) Bart doesn’t know the meaning of honesty. This is another blatant lie. He states the “morning of the outbound sector” but I assume he means the afternoon of the inbound sector. I didn’t see him prior to check out.
I was one of the first to come down as I usually am. As the rest of the crew arrived we greeted each other and chatted amongst ourselves. When Bart came down he didn’t speak to me and kept his distance. I can’t recall whether I said hello to him or not but it’s unusual for me not to say hello to each crew member before leaving the hotel.
It should be remembered this was Christmas Day.
Bart didn’t look over to acknowledge me at all. The reason he says this as you’ll see when I share more evidence in a future chapter, is because for most of the time whilst we were waiting for all the crew to come down I was sat talking with Katrina and Tommy about the flight home. It was going to be very different from the outbound sector because it was full. They were both working up as Pursers.
Bart couldn’t claim he said hello to me because he would have been aware Katrina or Tommy may have been asked about that in their witness statement. As an ex police officer he would have known witness statements would be requested from each member of crew.
Considering Bart was dreading the flight because he claims he felt demotivated and disliked, take a close look at the attached photograph (it’s here) that was taken just prior to leaving the hotel.
Bart is on the far left to the right of the First Officer. This is someone who claims to be preoccupied with the fact he has to work alongside a particularly unpleasant manager for the next nine hours. As anyone in that photo will tell you, there was lots of chatter and laughter before, during and after it was taken.
(Bart) On the bus to the airport, Laurence decided to show a video on his phone of a Christmas blow job. Laurence was laughing away and commenting on it. I did not want to watch the video so looked the other way. Laurence was showing the video to one side of the bus and stated “Don’t worry, ill show your side next”. I think perhaps my reaction is what stopped him showing the video a second time, however I think this is unacceptable behaviour. Harassment; displaying pornographic material (video clips), which I found offensive. (witnessed by Ven).
(Laurence) The First Officer who I’ve known for as long as I’ve been in the company showed me a Christmas cartoon of three gay men who ended up doing something naughty. I asked him to send it to me. I laughed at it when I first watched it and then again when I replayed it on my phone.
Upon being asked by T and Ven what I was laughing at I showed them the cartoon. Having watched it they asked me to send them a copy. T then replayed it on his iPad.
I didn’t show it to the other side of the bus because T and Ven were now watching it so anyone who wanted to see it could look over. I’m surprised it offended Bart but if it genuinely did, I apologise and take on board that I need to be aware some people could be offended by such material.
I spoke about this in the last chapter. You can refer back to it here and also see screenshots of the cartoon.
(Bart) I have never started a flight so low on morale and demotivated. During his briefing, Laurence stated that he trusted us all to do our jobs. This is a complete contradiction as Laurence is a micro manager and only wants things done his way. Laurence lacks leadership and avoids face to face interactions and would not address anything directly with staff, instead going through the Purser to ask for things to be done. Bullying; overbearing supervision.
(Laurence) I’m sure the rest of the crew and upward feedback from this and previous flights will confirm the kind of manager I am. I vehemently refute what Bart has claimed in this paragraph. I don’t want things done “my way”, I want them to be done as per the Service Procedures Manual. That’s what’s expected of me as a Flight Manager.
I do not avoid face to face interactions and if I have something to say regarding the service in the cabin, when there’s a Purser present I will speak to them because they’re running the service not me. The crew don’t need two people directing the service.
Being Cabin Crew | The Ugly Truth 