A US Spirit Airlines customer service representative who was shown in a viral video hitting a woman at Dallas Fort Worth International Airport in Texas has been suspended, the media reported on Friday, citing the company's news release.
"We are aware of this altercation. Our vendor at DFW has suspended the agent," the airline is quoted as saying. "Spirit Airlines does not tolerate violence of any kind, and we are working with local law enforcement to investigate this matter."
In the video, the employee, who is wearing a Spirit Airlines lanyard around his neck, is seen warning an unnamed woman: "don’t touch me ever in your life, you touch me first and then you got in my face. Don’t ever invade my personal space."
Warning: The video below contains offensive language. Viewer discretion is advised.
The employee is then told to "stay out of my personal space" by the woman after she says "get out of my face." She proceeds to use a homophobic epithet and tries to shove him away. A male onlooker then intervened between the two in an effort to diffuse the situation, but as the employee was being restrained by the man, the woman reached around him and smacked him in the side of the head.
As the public yells for the two to stop fighting, the employee chases after the woman, knocking her to the ground and punching her in the head.
"Everybody, back up from me!" the worker screams as more people approach him. "This b***h put her hands on me!"
Another onlooker approaches the employee as he resumes pursuing the woman and tells him "don't fight the woman." The worker can be heard saying, "Let me tell you something, I fight whoever," while standing close to his face.
The onlooker answers, appearing to lose his composure as the video comes to a close: "Put your hands on me... knock your b***h a** out."
Later on Friday, the Dallas Morning News reported that according to an airport police complaint, the woman was identified as Ayriana Davis of Fort Worth, and the agent was Emmanuel Sullivan of Grapevine.