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Thursday, March 28, 2024 | Back issues
Courthouse News Service Courthouse News Service

TSA Accused of Dumping Older Air Marshals

SAN FRANCISCO (CN) - The Transportation Security Administration closed its field offices with the highest percentage of older air marshals, a class action claims in Federal Court.

Leak plaintiff K.H. claims the Department of Homeland Security discriminated against older workers by shutting offices in Cincinnati, Cleveland, Tampa, Phoenix, Pittsburgh and San Diego.

K.H. says he sued under his initials because "public disclosure of his name may compromise national security or endanger his personal safety."

He claims that at least 90 percent of Federal Air Marshal Service employees in the targeted offices are older than 40. Those marshals have been reassigned.

"It is the TSA's intent to force older workers from federal service and it is the TSA's desire that the older workers will in fact quit due to the closure of the field offices and the mandatory office reassignment," K.H. claims.

He claims the TSA wants to "purge" its workforce of older air marshals so it can "hire two young field air marshals for every older field air marshal." The move could affect approximately 300 older air marshals.

In addition, he says, "The TSA is making any potential move to other offices extremely difficult, expensive, unpalatable, and problematic."

K.H. says he suffered severe stress about uprooting his family from Florida and moving to California when the TSA decided to close the Tampa office, where he had worked.

He says he filed a complaint with the EEOC, which failed to act within 180 days.

He seeks class certification, an injunction and $300,000 in compensatory damages for age discrimination.

He is represented by Nicholas Wieczorek with Morris, Polich & Purdy in Las Vegas, who did not immediately reply to a request for comment. Neither did representatives from the DHS or the TSA.

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