Six ramp agents allege racist symbols, slurs and inconsistent discipline at work
Ramp workers for Piedmont Airlines and American Airlines say they faced racist symbols, slurs and uneven discipline at Phoenix Sky Harbor, court papers allege.
In a lawsuit filed on Dec. 5, 2025, in the United States District Court for the District of Arizona, six current and former ramp agents describe what they say was a hostile environment at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport. The filing names Piedmont Airlines, Inc. and its parent, American Airlines Group, Inc., and focuses on conduct by supervisors and co-workers at the airport. The case is in its early stages, and no court has ruled on the allegations.
The plaintiffs – Renee Grant, Larry Harding, Johnny Jones, Jr., Nicole Nichols, August Pinckney and Niena Allen – are all African-American. They say that, throughout their employment, employees and supervisors created a racially hostile atmosphere and that the companies did not do enough to stop it. They also allege that Nichols, who is Muslim and wears her hair in a wrap, faced hostility tied to her sex and religion.
One of the earliest episodes described dates to “in or about 2023,” when, according to the filing, supervisors posted a photograph in a hallway showing two Caucasian supervisors reenacting the murder of George Floyd. Several employees, including some of the plaintiffs, complained. The two supervisors in the picture were fired, the plaintiffs say, but a third Caucasian supervisor who allegedly took and/or posted the photograph was not reprimanded and was later promoted.
Another focal point is the oversize luggage area in the Sky Harbor basement, shared by both defendants. Pinckney says a Caucasian American Airlines employee in that area was “frequently and openly hostile toward African-American employees,” including taking oversize luggage off the belt instead of placing it on her cart, while not treating Caucasian employees the same way. In or about January 2025, a noose was allegedly found hanging in that same area. Many employees complained, according to the filing, but the companies are accused of failing to properly investigate and of not disciplining anyone.
The filing then moves above ground, to American’s “mainline” breakroom. Piedmont’s own breakroom is on the opposite end of the tarmac, so Piedmont employees are permitted to use American’s space. Plaintiffs say African-American workers repeatedly encountered hostility there from Caucasian co-workers.
Nichols alleges that on or about May 22, 2024, American ramp agent Nicholas Andreou approached her while she was sitting alone, drinking water and cooling off. She says he told her he was “sick of seeing you in the breakroom every other day,” said she did not belong there, and, after she tried to document the interaction, told her, “You are getting out of here, raghead.” Nichols reported the episode to her manager, and both companies were notified, but she says she was told nothing about any outcome and still works in the same environment as Andreou.
Allen describes a separate breakroom episode on or about Feb. 17, 2025. She says she saw several Caucasian employees laughing and quoting racist lines and lines said by slave owners from the movie “Django Unchained.” After reporting what she saw, she says training managers told her to go back and take a picture. When she returned, one Caucasian employee was sitting at a table with a paper bag on his head, acting in a way that suggested he was a member of the Ku Klux Klan, while the group continued quoting the film. Allen later received an email on March 21, 2025, stating that the investigation had been closed. According to the filing, she was given no information on any remedial action, and the employees involved remained at work.
Beyond those headline incidents, the lawsuit also targets the companies’ discipline practices. The plaintiffs say African-American employees are written up, suspended or terminated for conduct that does not lead to similar consequences for Caucasian workers.
Harding was terminated in or about November 2023 for accumulating too many points under the attendance system, the filing says. Plaintiffs allege that several Caucasian employees with more points were not disciplined or terminated. Harding later grieved his termination and was reinstated.
Grant’s experience in March 2025 is another example cited. On or about March 26, 2025, Grant and two colleagues were pushing an aircraft from a gate using a standup when, about 500 to 700 feet out, the front wheel on the standup came off. A mechanic later told co-worker Ray Gosha that a fixture had broken on the tire and that it was not the agents’ fault. Grant nevertheless was suspended for four days.
Across four counts, the plaintiffs invoke federal and Arizona civil rights laws, alleging race discrimination and a racially hostile work environment for all six, and sex discrimination, a sexually hostile work environment, religious discrimination and a hostile work environment based on religion for Nichols. They ask for back pay, compensatory and punitive damages, interest, attorneys’ fees and costs, and they have requested a jury trial.
The companies’ responses are not included in the filing, and the court has yet to make any findings. For HR leaders, the case offers an account of how front-line culture, investigations and discipline can become the focus of an employment dispute.
