A United Airlines flight attendant has been charged with battery after getting into a dispute with a Cayman Airways customer service agent over a loud phone call, as flagged by PYOK. This is an interesting story, because the flight attendant admits to battery, but the question is whether Florida’s laws around what constitutes battery are reasonable.
In this post:
United Airlines & Cayman Airways employee dispute in Tampa
This incident happened on March 8, 2025, at Tampa International Airport (TPA), though only recently came to light, thanks to police body cam footage that has been released.
The dispute involves a United flight attendant who was commuting to work, and a Cayman Airways customer service agent who works at the airport. The pair were both taking the employee bus from the parking lot to the terminal.
Both parties more or less agree on what happened. The Cayman Airways employee was talking on the phone to her uncle, apparently in a loud voice, and the United employee found that to be disrespectful.
According to the Cayman Airways employee, the United employee told her that her voice annoys him, and that she should close her mouth. According to the United employee, she then called him racist, flicked him off, and told him to go f*ck himself.
The flight attendant then reportedly tapped or touched the customer service agent on the shoulder, and told her that it was going to be her last day working there, and that he was going to make sure they fire her. He also reportedly claimed that Trump would deport her.
She asked him not to touch her, so he didn’t touch her again. However, he followed her into the airport so that he could get the information for her manager, so that he could file a complaint. That’s the point at which police were called.
You can see a video with body cam footage below, showing both versions of events.
The flight attendant was ultimately charged with battery
In the state of Florida, unwanted touch is considered battery. Based on the letter of the law, the flight attendant was charged with battery. So even though he stopped touching her when she asked, and even though he “just” tapped her shoulder, that’s not actually a defense, but rather, is an admission.
What’s my take on this altercation?
- People talking loudly on the phone in public is incredibly annoying, so I absolutely believe that the customer service agent probably was being a nuisance
- That being said, you shouldn’t touch anyone in an unwanted way, particularly when you’re involved in a dispute with them, and things are getting heated, so the flight attendant shouldn’t have reacted that way
- It’s ironic that a flight attendant would touch someone in an unwanted way, because flight attendants hate when passengers try to get their attention by trying to touch them (for good reason)
- If the flight attendant did actually tell the customer service agent that Trump was going to deport her, then shame on him for that; he should know better than to say something that cruel, especially based on what I imagine his political beliefs are, given the “Black Lives Matter” pin he’s wearing
- The flight attendant really dug himself a hole here, thinking he was going to get her fired be touching her shoulder and then following her around, only for him to be arrested and charged
- One certainly wonders if this incident rises to the point of what police resources should be used for, and if Florida law makes sense; like, if you have a mild disagreement with someone in a crowded public space and they brush your shoulder, should that also be considered battery, since it’s unwanted touch?
Bottom line
A United Airlines flight attendant and Cayman Airways customer service agent got into a dispute at Tampa Airport, because the Cayman Airways employee was making a loud phone call on the employee bus. The United employee asked her to quiet down, and things escalated, with both people making heated comments.
The flight attendant ultimately touched the shoulder of the customer service agent, and any unwanted touch constitutes battery in Florida, so he was arrested and charged.
What do you make of this airport dispute?
Other outlets have also stated that the Cayman employee accused the United employee of being a racist for asking her to quit making a speakerphone call in a public place. If this is true, it immediately identifies her as having a monumentally gargantuan chip on her shoulder, and that special type of psychopath who’ll gladly press police charges about a tap on the shoulder just to make someone else’s life a misery. I hope this...
Other outlets have also stated that the Cayman employee accused the United employee of being a racist for asking her to quit making a speakerphone call in a public place. If this is true, it immediately identifies her as having a monumentally gargantuan chip on her shoulder, and that special type of psychopath who’ll gladly press police charges about a tap on the shoulder just to make someone else’s life a misery. I hope this goes to trial, and the United employee’s attorney ruthlessly humiliates her in front of the entire court.
Only in that dump of a land, USA, would this happen.
You just know how she wouldve been talking on the phone, and what a surprise that she pulls out the racism card.
Also, US laws are totally broken if tapping someone on the shoulder is assault, lol
If the female FA accurately reported the incident, that was more than a tap.
Blame the Brits, because that definition is straight out of British common law.
And this was on the ground mind you. I wonder what's going to happen when multiple pax at 30,000 feet start screaming into their devices. Without a no calls policy, flying will become intolerable.
Lord she's lovey-dovey!
Every one is getting too sensitive these days. I honestly don’t see the problem if that is all that happened.
Now if the united airlines flight attendant reall did use a racial slur, now that is a whole different thing in my mind
I saw the video. I have doubts about this woman's claim. Let's just say anyone rude enough to scream into a cell phone without regards to others isn't someone I'd trust.
The video of the arrest, not of the preceding incident; so, we’d need the witnesses to verify what actually happened. Seems like the UA FA was upset by loud French phone call of the Caymen FA. Not deserving of touching, but, also, don’t be rude on shared transportation. Both parties here are not-cool. Main takeaway.
This is really petty. Feels like false accusation of a crime, and if so, apparently defamatory, and if actually prosecuted, likely a malicious prosecution. Touching someone on the shoulder is not battery, under nearly all circumstances, and if it is in Florida, that's a bad law, and maybe incidents like these will bring about enough attention to push for appropriate changes.
Talk about a run on sentence.
Quite Thomas, what the numpty normally tells others is: “Quiet piggy”.
Oh, goodie, in addition to the rise of neo-Nazis, gotta deal with grammar Nazis, too…
Ridiculous
Thanks for flagging this, I did not know that touching somebody once on a shoulder could be a criminal offense in Florida.Florian
You can shoot someone and kill them but that’s OK because that’s “standing your ground” but a light touch on the shoulder….. straight to jail.
Talk about the epitome of undescended testicles!
You seem obsessed with undescended testicles.
Why are you obsessed with undescended testicles?
I’m not. It came up as a metaphor relevant to the context of the discussion, so I addressed it.
"Rod Guest
December 8, 2025, 6:00 pm
"...I love all your posts talking about "undescnded testicles", you really are sick.""
You seem to have a long, storied history with testicles. You should talk with someone about it.
Yes, thanks for sharing another example where the metaphor worked. It's funny how you excluded the context behind it.
Please get serious Ben, this old news is nothing short of click-bait and degrading your website reputation, yes?
Quiet, you!
Hi, other 1990, I'd've gone with 'Quiet Piggy' but at least you tried.
What a brilliant numpty you are 1990, a real jobs worth, like the rest of your creatures.
Which ‘1990,’ (me) the O.G., or the guy behind @Penile, who is imitating me and a few others on here recently? I mean, he’s gotten it right more than a few times, so, kudos to him for that. This one was close, but I wasn’t gonna bash you for your comment above, because this is indeed a nonsense story.
*taps you on the shoulder*
I’m afraid Gray, that one will need to put the naughty monkey 1990, back in its box. It’s been dancing to the organ grinders tune for far too long now and needs to be reminded of what it parrots to others:
“Quiet piggy”, you silly nut stuffer, yes?
Do you honestly expect an overprivileged, overentitled, ambassador of audacity seppo like him to ''get serious''? They all have main character syndrome that cannot be stopped, doing literally ANYTHING for attention.
I have an extreme aversion to people who make lots of noise, whether it's talking loudly on an overamplified speakerphone, or listening to videos at high volume, or even just using their phones or tablets with the audible touch enabled at a high volume. My immediate reflex is to (want to) forcefully make the noise stop. I realize that is not acceptable, so I don't physically exert control over what others are doing. But I...
I have an extreme aversion to people who make lots of noise, whether it's talking loudly on an overamplified speakerphone, or listening to videos at high volume, or even just using their phones or tablets with the audible touch enabled at a high volume. My immediate reflex is to (want to) forcefully make the noise stop. I realize that is not acceptable, so I don't physically exert control over what others are doing. But I do feel that these people are assaulting me with their obnoxious lack of self-awareness and excessive noise pollution.
Choose a loud song on your phone and play it next to them on speakerphone.
People are ignorant when using mobile phones.
Why is he masticating like a cow chewing the cud? It gives a negative impression.
You cannot touch anybody, tapping them or otherwise, because you don't like their behavior. End of story. Now, is this battery? I'm not sure, seems a little harsh. But then how does it work in other states?
Mr. 'Black Lives Matter' found out the hard way (as most do) that they will have the race card used against them at the drop of a hat.
Also, this article appears to have been (poorly) written by AI. Enough already.
@ Sevenster Ditorama -- I've never used AI to write a story, but if you think this is written by AI, maybe I should? What prompt do you think I put in to get this post?
Besides the frivolous allegation of AI-use, the real issue you brought up is the excessive use of force by police, their apparent attempts to 'escalate' and 'coerce' peaceful protestors. Officers are supposed to de-escalate, but, clearly, during BLM and other protests, such as the recent anti-ICE ones, some officers are trying to provoke a response so they can brutalize those they disagree with, perhaps, ideologically. This is why hiring a bunch of pro-Trump goons with...
Besides the frivolous allegation of AI-use, the real issue you brought up is the excessive use of force by police, their apparent attempts to 'escalate' and 'coerce' peaceful protestors. Officers are supposed to de-escalate, but, clearly, during BLM and other protests, such as the recent anti-ICE ones, some officers are trying to provoke a response so they can brutalize those they disagree with, perhaps, ideologically. This is why hiring a bunch of pro-Trump goons with limited training (other than their apparent loyalty to the Dear Leader) is a bad idea. Para-militaries should not be a thing in the US. (Yet, here we are.)
pangram.com is an excellent AI detector which I use regularly.
Fully Human Written
We believe that this document is fully human-written
Breakdown
Pangram 3.0
100% Human Written
The law is ridiculous, given that one of the ways people *get other people's attention* is by tapping them on the shoulder. So, now, if someone taps someone else and says "excuse me," that's battery? Come on.
no, it is not, unless you were aware that the touch was unwanted. the FA here was aware and did it in spite (or because) of that fact.
trespass generally works the same way.
For me the most surprising aspect is that the police show up for such a minor incident. When my mother was knocked to the ground and had her purse stolen in a British city in the middle of the afternoon the police didn't want to know.
You said the key words 'in a British city'... And that's exactly why Europe is going down the drain
Jd, that's Putin-propaganda you're spreading. Europe (including the UK) is doing just fine. Everywhere has its issues, and nowhere is perfect, but it is not a dystopian hellscape. The undertone of your comment about 'going down the drain' is just thinly-veiled bigotry. Call it out when you see it, folks.