TSA screeners fired, suspended for not harassing people enough
News-Press.com reports,
Five Transportation Security Administration workers at Southwest Florida International Airport have been fired and another 38 suspended after an internal investigation found they failed to perform random screenings last year.
The 43, a combination of front-line screeners and supervisors, represent about 15 percent of the roughly 280 TSA employees at the airport. The number of workers involved makes it one of the largest disciplinary actions TSA has taken in its 10-year history, TSA spokesman David Castelveter confirmed.
The workers were notified of their punishment Friday and are being given an opportunity to appeal, he said. The agency has brought in screeners from other airports to fill in.
A TSA spokesman says the actual offense was the failure to perform “random secondary” checks—additional screenings for allegedly random passengers.
The spokesman then added, “At no time was a traveler’s safety at risk and there was no impact on flight operations.” Really? So why were these random secondary checks so important?