Flight attendants cause turbulence at work as they tackle weighty issue
MOSCOW: Two “old, fat, ugly” Russian flight attendants who launched a bid for fair treatment from their employer, Russia’s flagship airline Aeroflot, were surprised to find they have taken off as crusaders for women across Russia.
Yevgenia Magurina, 42, and Irina Ierusalimskaya, 45, sparked a media storm in February by accusing Aeroflot of discrimination over age, weight and looks by demoting women wearing clothes larger than a Russian size 48, or international large.
They were outraged that Aeroflot was taking women attendants like them who were larger than this size off the better-paid long-haul international flights and stripping them of bonuses.
Dubbing themselves STS – a Russian abbreviation of “old, fat ugly” – the two women filed two separate lawsuits against the airline, but lost as district courts in Moscow didn’t find these standards – which Aeroflot didn’t deny – discriminatory.
But the pair appealed against the ruling and, earlier this month the court sided with them, declaring that enforcing such dress standards violated labour laws but refusing to acknowledge discrimination.
“That doesn’t matter. The most important thing is that now they will have to get rid of clothing size standards,” said Magurina.
Ierusalimskaya added: “Professionals should not be evaluated based on their clothing sizes, and I hope that this practice will come to an end.”
The court ruling did, however, allow the airline to declare its own victory, stating they did not discriminate against flight attendants, and that the court ruling “established that”.
But women’s rights campaigners hailed this an important milestone in a battle against gender discrimination in Russia. – Reuters