By GB News (World News) | Created at 2026-10-05 16:05:45 | Updated at 2026-10-05 17:49:00
1 hour ago
A British Airways host sacked amid claims he asked a female colleague whether she wanted to join the "mile high club" has won a £30,000 payout.
An employment tribunal in Reading heard Charly Mateo had been fired by the carrier after he allegedly "disturbed" a female hostess behind a privacy curtain before making a vulgar comment.
The flight attendant is also alleged to have told the hostess "sexual stories" about two women and touched her leg.
The airline had dismissed Mr Mateo in July 2024 after being reported over his alleged behaviour four months earlier.
But the ex-employee has now successfully sued his former employer for unfair and wrongful dismissal.
Mr Mateo had spent six years in the skies for British Airways prior to his sacking, alongside a clean disciplinary record and several recommendations for his good service.
On top of a duty allowance and bar commission, the flight attendant was on a basic salary of £21,833 per year.
At the time of the incident where Mr Mateo is said to have "disturbed" a female colleague, he was not working as cabin crew.
The airline had sacked the staffer in July 2024 after being reported over his alleged behaviour four months earlier
GETTY
The tribunal heard another female had gone behind the curtain to check on her colleague, who told her that the host had "just asked me if I want to be part of the mile high club".
He then allegedly “purposely touched the flight attendant’s leg” and “told her stories of a sexual nature regarding two ladies”, leaving her “upset and emotional”, she told an internal investigation.
The female colleague claimed the interaction felt her feeling "extremely uncomfortable" and as if her privacy had been "totally invaded".
The employment tribunal was told: “[BA] had a genuine belief that [Mr 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 cabin member had spent six years in the skies for British Airways prior to his sacking
GETTY
Despite the judge acknowledged Mr Mateo's behaviour as “strange", she found the airline had not conducted a thorough enough probe into the accusations before sacking him.
She said: “I concluded that the dismissal was substantively unfair because of the failure to conduct a reasonable investigation due to [BA] interviewing [Mr 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 [Mr Mateo] had touched her knee.
“There is insufficient evidence for me to conclude that [Mr Mateo] would repeat either the allegations [BA] genuinely believes that he committed or the blameworthy conduct that I concluded he had committed.”
The ex-employee was awarded £29,195.69 in compensation by the judge.
The judge found that the airline had not conducted a thorough enough probe into the accusations before sacking him
However, he was not successful in his bid to be reinstated to his former position.
The tribunal came just weeks after close friend of failed US presidential candidate Kamala Harris sued the airline after allegedly being hit on the head by a cabin crew member.
Karen Gibbs, a retired US Navy lawyer, claimed she was sitting as an "innocent bystander" when a flight attendant intervened to manage a disruptive passenger in the row behind her.
During that intervention, the crew member delivered what the lawsuit describes as a "forceful blow" to the top of her head.
She says the impact left her with "head pain, blurred vision, dizziness, disorientation and distress" and that she asked for medical assistance straight away.
Ms Gibbs is pursuing damages covering past and future medical costs, lost pay and employment benefits, mental anguish and "loss of enjoyment of life".
