Embarrassed: Andrea Worldwide was boarding a flight from Denver, Colorado to Newark, New Jersey on January 13 and says she was 'humiliated'. Photo / Andrea Worldwide / Instagram
Embarrassed: Andrea Worldwide was boarding a flight from Denver, Colorado to Newark, New Jersey on January 13 and says she was 'humiliated'. Photo / Andrea Worldwide / Instagram
A United Airlines passenger was left "humiliated" after gate agent pulled her to one side and threatened to ban her from flying, claiming her outfit was inappropriate.
Andrea Worldwide, who is a frequent flier with United Airlines, was boarding a flight from Denver to New Jersey on January 13 when she was stopped by a male employee.
According to Worldwide, the employee said her shift was too low-cut, humiliating her in front of other passengers.
It wasn't until she nearly broke down in tears that she was let on her plane.
Taking to social media, Worldwide says she wants to expose what happened to her in the hope it'll stop other women from being "humiliated" and "judged" based off their appearance.
"Last week I was denied boarding onto my flight out of Denver by a male United gate agent," she wrote. "At first I thought it was because I had a ripped ticket, but I later learned that it was because of what I was wearing.'
"I am a professional woman, who employs hundreds of other young professional women, which is why I have decided to take a stand and speak out about the unacceptable behaviour of United Airlines staff," Worldwide wrote on Facebook, while sharing photos of her outfit.
"I didn't want to post this, but given the lack of attention to this issue by United, I am given no other choice."
For the flight, Andrea was wearing a low cut black top, paired with tight leggings.
Over that, Andrea was also wearing a cardigan and a scarf, which easily could have been adjusted to cover her chest.
Outfit: She was stopped from boarding, and staff indicated her top was inappropriate. Photo / Andrea Worldwide
"For those wondering what ELSE I had on - as friends and family members I contacted did ask me right away - I was also wearing an oversized scarf, a knee-length cardigan, leggings and sneakers," she explained on social media.
"After about 20 minutes, a female supervisor (Monica) arrived and when I asked her for more information about what was going on and why this was happening, she did apologise but also commented to me that my shirt was in fact 'too revealing', which means United's male gate agent felt it was necessary to protect the other passengers from me, or he wanted me to stick around just a little longer so he could stare at me for his own pleasure … Who knows!
"I'm completely humiliated, embarrassed, confused. I feel like all eyes are on me."
Worldwide was offered a $100 travel voucher, which she refused.
"Two hundred dollars doesn't even compare to the humiliation that I faced,' she said. 'If another female has to face this, I'd rather get the word out and maybe they'll choose a different airline."
The airline told CBS4 that they are speaking to Andrea directly about the problem.
"At United, our goal is for our customers to feel welcome and have a comfortable journey. We are reaching out to our customer to better understand what happened," said the statement.
