US airline worker sues former employer

A Pakistani-American airline engineer from Brooklyn is suing his firm for allegedly allowing co-workers to taunt him by calling him “bomb-maker.”

Jamil Akhtar, 51, said he complained to his bosses at NorthAmerican Airlines that other employees derided him with derogatory names like “Packy,” insulted his Muslim religion and threatened him.

His suit, filed yesterday in Brooklyn state Supreme Court, charges that when he complained to superiors, he was threatened with the loss of his FAA license.

Akhtar said he took a two-week leave of absence in 2007 and when he returned, a supervisor smiled and said, “What are you doing here? You’re fired.”

The engineer quit in 2007. He is suing for back pay and other damages.

New York Post, 10 July 2010