British Airways flight attendant sacked over 'mile high club' accusations wins £30,000 payout

A judge has ruled in favour of a British Airways (BA) flight attendant who had been sacked over comments he allegedly made to a female staff member while she was on break in the air.

An unfair dismissal tribunal has revealed a situation on a flight in March 2024, which saw a female colleague claim she had been asked if she wanted to join the ‘mile high club’, and have her leg touched inappropriately.

In the end, the man accused won almost £30,000 in damages.

Charly Mateo was accused of reaching behind a privacy curtain, where he ‘disturbed’ a cabin crew member during her mid-flight break and told her ‘sexual stories’ about two women.

Mateo, who was 37 at the time, had worked for the airline for almost six years when the incident occurred, and as reported by the Telegraph, had a clean disciplinary record.

Charly Mateo was awarded nearly 30k for unfair dismissal by British Airways (Getty Stock Images)

At the employment tribunal in Reading, a colleague who wasn’t there at the time of the interaction, claimed to have checked on the woman, where she is said to have told them: “He [Mateo] just asked me if I want to be part of the mile high club.”

According to the complaint, he also ‘purposely touched the flight attendant’s leg’ and also ‘told her stories of a sexual nature regarding two ladies.’

That’s when the flight attendant apparently became ‘upset and emotional' and refused to work with him.

“I was made to feel extremely uncomfortable and my privacy was totally invaded,” she is said to have told the BA investigation.

After the crew member reported his alleged conduct, BA is said to have fired him, as the woman had claimed she did not feel comfortable working with him.

In the end, he sued the airline for unfair and wrongful dismissal, and it was found at the tribunal stage that BA had not conducted a proper investigation into the claims before it made the decision to fire him.

At the time, Mateo was getting a basic annual salary of £21,833 on top of his duty allowance and bar commission.

He allegedly asked her to join the 'mile high club' (Getty Stock Images)

Judge Anna Macey also heard of the incident: “[BA] had a genuine belief that [Mateo] had made a reference to the ‘mile high club’ in a conversation with the complainant while she was on a rest break, that he also did purposely touch the complainant’s leg while she was on a rest break and that he did tell the complainant stories of a sexual nature regarding two ladies.”

The judge went on to lament that Mateo had indeed demonstrated ‘strange behaviour’ and was guilty of 'invading her privacy,’ but that BA’s investigation into the conduct was not sufficient enough.

In the end, he was handed £29,195.69 but was denied the reinstating of his role.

Judge Macey said: “I concluded that the dismissal was substantively unfair because of the failure to conduct a reasonable investigation due to [BA] interviewing [Mateo] before it had taken a full version of the events from the complainant and the lack of in-depth questioning by [BA] of the complainant concerning her allegation that [Mateo] had touched her knee.”

“There is insufficient evidence for me to conclude that [Mateo] would repeat either the allegations [BA] genuinely believes that he committed or the blameworthy conduct that I concluded he had committed.”