Embarrassed during airline identity check

Jenny*, a young child, was born male but identifies as female. While having her boarding pass checked, airline staff loudly asked inappropriate and invasive questions about Jenny’s gender identity in front of other passengers. This included asking whether Jenny was a boy or a girl and saying to her mother: “I think you’ve put her down wrong; it says male on the booking information”. This caused negative comments to be made by other passengers.

Jenny’s mother, Clara*, lodged a complaint of transgender discrimination with ADNSW.

ADNSW investigated the matter and held a conciliation conference. 

Clara said that Jenny had worked hard to establish her identity and to gain acceptance among her peers at school. Clara said the incident had a profoundly negative effect on Jenny’s emotional wellbeing and sense of safety. Clara said the incident left them feeling humiliated and embarrassed and had the potential of causing Jenny significant harm.

The airline explained their obligation to check the identity of passengers, but also acknowledged that the matter could have been handled differently.  

The complaint was resolved when Clara accepted the following in settlement of the complaint:

• A written confidential apology,
• A travel voucher,
• A communication to cabin crew staff, including specific details of how to check identities of passengers in a discrete way, without making assumptions about their gender,
• Update of the airline’s internal cabin crew manual by an agreed timeframe, to include details of checking passenger identities.

* Names have been changed to protect the privacy of the individuals