American Airlines Worker Fired Over $1 Dental Kit Loses Lawsuit

An American Airlines Inc. customer service employee failed to show racial bias motivated her termination for theft of company property, a tooth-brushing kit worth $1, a federal judge found.

Chintamani Mueblas-Curtis, a 45-year-old Asian woman, didn’t produce enough evidence to show that the airline’s stated reason for firing her was a pretext to cover up illegal discrimination, wrote Judge Sidney A. Fitzwater of the US District Court for the Northern District of Texas.

The employee’s manager investigated and fired Mueblas-Curtis in 2023 after she used a disposable dental kit from the airline’s Admirals Club, a lounge for premium-paying passengers. Mueblas-Curtis ...