As part of its ‘Be Pink’ campaign this month, more than 100,000 American Airlines employees are sporting pink uniforms and serving passengers with Be Pink branded items. Employees are taking part in fundraisers, and the airline is offering AAdvantage members bonus miles when they donate to the Susan G. Komen Foundation.
It’s ironic then that the airline that has wrapped itself in pink, and has contributed more than $40 million to the fight against breast cancer over the past 33 years, for breach of conflict by a former editor of their in-flight magazines who was fired just months after disclosing she had breast cancer.
Jacquelyne Froeber was recruited by American Airlines in January 2015 as editor in chief of Celebrated Living, and senior editor of American Way magazines. She signed a contract with Ink, a London-based company that produces magazines for many of the world’s largest airlines, including American, and relocated from her home in Iowa to Dallas to begin her tenure.
“I was beyond excited to move to Dallas for the opportunity. The creative possibilities seemed endless and I was looking forward to being part of the team,” said Froeber, 34, from her home in Dallas. “American Airlines and Ink had a contract for five years to maintain an editorial office in Dallas with fulltime employees, with myself being one of those employees.”
Within a year of taking the position, the magazines won numerous industry awards, and Froeber was told by Ink that Celebrated Living was the most profitable magazine in the American Airlines portfolio.
In May of this year, Froeber learned that she had stage-three breast cancer, and in June she disclosed her illness to her colleagues, including Ink CEO Michael Keating.
“At the time he said he was very sorry to hear it and he asked about my health. He asked if I was okay, and I told him that I was,” Froeber said.
A week later, Ink announced that the Dallas office was being closed, and employees were invited to interview for their jobs at the new Miami location. Despite the fact that Froeber had moved to Dallas with the promise of employment for five years, she agreed to interview for her job in Miami, and did so in August. By then she had been undergoing chemotherapy and losing her hair, and she arrived at the interview with a shaved head.
“I put together a Power Point presentation, recapping all the great things that had been happening with the magazines. Afterwards they said I did really well, that I had a passion for the brand, and they wanted to keep me on until December and re-evaluate me at the end of the year.”
Froeber says she was open to that, but wanted to see something in writing that detailed exactly what she would be doing until the end of the year and what a re-evaluation of her performance would mean.
“The next week they told me they were not going to be re-evaluating me in December, and they were not offering me a position in Miami. I was told that per internal discussions, the reasoning was my quality of work, which didn’t make any sense to me as I had won numerous awards, and was told that I was doing a good job and had passion for the brand. Instead, they offered me a freelance contract for three months. I was disappointed.”
When Ink sent over the contract, it included a clause that said the company would be using her pre-chemotherapy photo, showing her in long blond hair.
“I was completely taken aback,” Froeber said. “I thought we were working towards me moving to Miami, and it was like, ‘no, we’re not doing that anymore’. The photo thing was really weird because as an editor I sent out freelance contracts once a week, and I had never seen that kind of clause before. When I went back to my original contract, there was no mention of my photo.”
Froeber then filed a discrimination complaint against Ink with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in Dallas, and a civil lawsuit for unspecified damages against both Ink and American Airlines for breach of contract.
In an email to Glamour.com, Matt Miller, spokesman for American Airlines, wrote: “American Airlines has been at the forefront of the fight against breast cancer for decades and our thoughts are with Ms. Froeber after her recent diagnosis. However, Ms. Froeber has never been an employee of American and we expect to be dismissed from the case.”
While acknowledging that American Airlines did not directly employ her, Froeber says that she worked with airline executives, including at a meeting earlier this year regarding editorial content for the magazines.
Also responding to Glamour.com via email, Ink spokesman Daniel Bee wrote: “As this matter is in litigation we cannot comment in detail. Our primary concern is for our former colleague and we are very disappointed that she has chosen to take legal action at this most difficult of times. In our opinion this claim is baseless and it is with deep regret we are being forced into this matter to ensure the truth comes out.”
Though the lawsuit seeks monetary damages, Froeber says her fight is about much more than money.
“I want people to know that discrimination is wrong and what happened to me is wrong. People need to know that.”
