Delta Singled Out by Workers for Catcalls in ‘Boss Contest’

CLEVELAND — The good, the bad and the Downright Unbelievable were cited Friday in a national “boss contest” sponsored by 9 to 5, the National Assn. of Working Women.

Secretaries report the best--and worst--about their employers for the annual contest.

Delta Airlines was named Bad Boss for “blatant disregard for the health and safety of reservationists and for terminating employees who have been injured on the job.”

Delta officials could not be reached for comment. Calls to airline spokesman Neil Monroe’s home, car and office went unanswered Friday afternoon.

Barbara Otto, a spokeswoman for 9 to 5, said the airline was singled out for allegedly mishandling complaints from reservation clerks who say they’re getting electric shocks from their headsets.

“They’re terminating employees who file workers’ compensation claims and requiring employees to make a choice between that position or a transfer to Atlanta,” she said. “It’s discrimination against predominantly women and minority employees.”

Delta spokesman Bill Berry said he didn’t know how many employees were terminated but said the company had no other choice if the employees would not work with the headsets or transfer.

Otto said 9 to 5 usually does not identify companies named in the Bad Boss and Downright Unbelievable lists, but made an exception in Delta’s case at the employees’ request.

Two businesses were given Downright Unbelievable tags.

The first went to the department head of an office in Eastport, N.Y., who required a 37-year-old woman, a mother of two, to bring a note from her parents certifying she was out sick.

The second was given to a truck dealership in Illinois where a woman’s salary was reduced by $4,182 so another employee could be given a raise.