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.
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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?
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.
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.