by Mia Taylor
Last updated: 6:05 PM ET, Tue December 31, 2024
A former United Airlines flight attendant will be allowed to proceed with a lawsuit against the carrier in which the female attendant claims to have been fired because she hosts an OnlyFans account.
Los Angeles-based flight attendant Alexa Wawrzenski claims in her lawsuit that “United investigated and ultimately fired her for having a social media account featuring pictures of herself in uniform and wearing a bikini, with a link to a subscription-based account advertised as providing ‘[e]xclusive private content you won't see anywh[ere else].’ “
Wawrzenski claims to have been fired for the OnlyFans account yet male United Airlines employees who have similar accounts are treated differently.
According to the website FindLaw, Wawrzenski’s suit against United also claims that she endured years of gender discrimination and harassment. The lawsuit states that United retaliated against Wawrzenski for complaining about the discrimination and harassment by terminating her employment, per FindLaw.
The filing goes on to explain that United's investigation into Wawrzenski’s social media and her termination discriminated against her as a woman. Further, Wawrzenski’s claim alleges that United failed to prevent its employees’ misconduct, and intentionally caused Wawrzenski emotional distress.
After the case was initially filed in 2020, the carrier sought summary judgment or adjudication on all causes of action and on Wawrzenski's claim for punitive damages. A trial court granted United's motion in its entirety, per FindLaw, and Wawrzenski appealed.
The Court of Appeal, Second District, Division 7, California, however, has now concluded that “the trial court erred in granting United's motion for summary adjudication on Wawrzenski's causes of action under the Fair Employment and Housing Act."
In particular, the court states in its decision that Wawrzenski “met her burden to make a…case of gender discrimination and to show pretext.” Evidence that Wawrzenski provided to show that United treated male employees differently included documentation of three male employees who had social media accounts featuring pictures of themselves in uniform and partially undressed.
“In rejecting this ‘comparator’ evidence, the trial court usurped the role of the factfinder to determine whether the comparators were similarly situated to Wawrzenski to show discriminatory animus and pretext,” states the court decision.
According to news reports about the case, at the time of Wawrzenski's firing, United’s social media policy directed employees not to post anything that could be perceived to have a negative effect on the airline’s family-friendly reputation and brand image.
In June 2020, United’s Ethics and Compliance Office had apparently received an anonymous tip about Wawrzenski’s OnlyFans, including photos of her in a flight attendant uniform and bikini shots on Instagram that included a link to her subscription page.
View From The Wing has reported that United began investigating Wawrzenski in July 2020. That effort included grilling Wawrzenski for as long as six hours about her social media accounts and demanding that she provide the carrier with full access to her OnlyFans account, per the publication.
Wawrzenski was reportedly then told to delete all of the photos of herself in uniform from the social media and online accounts. Though Wawrzenski completed the required action, one photo apparently remained online in which Wawrzenski’s United uniform was visible. Not long after, Wawrzenski was fired.
United accused Wawrzenski of breaching its social media policy, using the brand’s uniform to “solicit” content on a paid site, and disobeying orders to remove all uniform photos – citing a “conflict of interest” clause in its Code of Ethics that flight attendants cannot monetize adult images even tangentially connected to their airline roles, according to View from the Wing.
Wawrzenski subsequently filed suit against the airline in October 2020 in the Superior Court of Los Angeles County. The lawsuit claims Wawrzenski experienced gender discrimination, harassment, and retaliation, which violate California’s Fair Employment and Housing Act.
A trial court had initially rejected these claims on summary judgment. However, four years later in October 2024, the California Court of Appeal’s Second District reversed that decision. In that subsequent ruling the court decided that Wawrzenski showed enough evidence that the carrier applied its social media policies differently for men versus women.
Wawrzenski is seeking reinstatement, lost wages, and damages for emotional distress, while the airline stands by its original assertion that her OnlyFans promotion was not only a policy violation but also a reputational risk to the brand.
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