Photo By William Sprouse

Comair workers want the same protection and benefits that other airlines give gay and lesbian employees.

Gay and lesbian employees of regional carrier Comair are considering calling for a boycott of the airline, which has refused to include sexual orientation in its non-discrimination policy and to provide domestic partner benefits.

Capt. Russ Stark, founder and chairman of Gay and Lesbian Employee Network of Comair (GALEN), and co-chair Larry Sprouse say they have made repeated requests since 1995.

About 100 employees attend GALEN's monthly meetings, they say. GALEN's Yahoo group chat registers 31 members. Stark estimates that 7-10 percent of Comair's employees are gay and lesbian, the industry average, which would comprise 420 to 600 of its 6,000 employees.

One of GALEN's objectives was to provide positive role models, fun, social events and professional contacts for Comair's gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender (GLBT) employees.

Now GALEN's focus turns toward more serious business: considering calling for the national GLBT community and its supporters to boycott Comair. Stark expects the group to decide after the New Year.

"It's a big step for all of us," he says. "We're very supportive of Comair. As far as the working conditions, we're very happy."

But Stark's partner of 10 years, ineligible to share Stark's benefits, has little incentive to move here.

"Here I am, 17 years flying a $35 million airplane, and I'm viewed as not being as important as my heterosexual counterpart in the benefits area simply because of who I am," Stark says.

'Second class citizens'
"It's accurate to say we do not offer those benefits," says Nick Miller, spokesman for Comair. "It's also important to note that our company has a duty to make business decisions and manage a company based on the economic factors that affect us."

The airline industry remains intensively competitive, he says.

"We're having to watch our costs extremely closely," Miller says.

Comair posted a $35 million profit last quarter, according to Stark. Miller says he's not at liberty to discuss Comair's finances because it's not a publicly traded company.

According to Comair literature, one of the company's goals is "to foster an innovative team environment which motivates us through mutual respect, open communication, recognition and continuous learning."

Comair is wholly owned by Delta, which goes above and beyond to demonstrate its commitment to diversity. Delta and its only other wholly owned subsidiary, Atlantic Southeast Airlines (ASA), both offer domestic partner benefits and an anti-discrimination policy, as do most other "mainline" airlines and their wholly owned connection carriers, Stark says.

Delta is the second largest sponsor of the Atlanta Gay Pride Parade, according to Stark and Sprouse, who marched with a GALEN banner, raising $3,000 for the parade and $1,000 for GALEN.

Stark says Delta's global diversity department recognizes employee groups for women, African Americans, Christians -- and gays and lesbians.

Comair offers none of these, he says.

"Comair doesn't support diversity at all," Stark says. "While Delta employees enjoy the privilege of being treated equally and fairly, Delta subsidiaries are not."

Delta touts its commitment to diversity in Sky Magazine, carried on all Comair planes, Stark says.

Comair refused requests for a glass-enclosed case for GALEN postings, citing cost, he says. When GALEN offered to pay for the case, Comair declined.

The company newsletter used to regularly profile employees' families. But when a gay employee asked to be profiled with his partner of eight years, he was refused.

"They were told, no, Comair does not recognize same-sex couples as families," Stark says.

After the employee complained to human relations personnel, Comair eliminated the column, he says.

Stark finds it ironic that the two Comair human relations employees acting as GALEN's contact points are African-American women.

"They view GALEN as a nuisance," he says.

Sprouse was told that Comair couldn't afford to offer domestic partner benefits because part-time employees would like tuition reimbursement.

"They compare our concerns with that of part-timers, through the vast majority of gays and lesbians are full-time employees," Stark says.

"Comair, in my opinion, views us as second-class citizens," he says.

'We're at a loss'
After internal pressure yielded no results, Stark approached Delta for support. Delta representatives first told him they couldn't help because Comair has its own human relations department and makes its own policies.

When he protested, they referred him to Delta Connection Inc. (DCI), which manages Delta's six connection carriers.

DCI told him the same thing. DCI reps also told him that they were communicating with Comair CEO Randy Rademacher.

Delta and DCI did not return multiple calls seeking comment.

From DCI's communications with Rademacher, Stark has identified three reasons that Comair drags its wheels.

First, neither state nor federal law requires sexual orientation to be included in non-discrimination policies.

"It's important to stress that Comair complies with all federal laws," Miller says.

Second, Comair's human relations department fears litigation from gay and lesbian employees. If Comair includes sexual orientation in its non-discrimination policy, gay and lesbian employees might turn around and sue for domestic partner benefits.

Stark says he has assured Comair they're not interested in suing, and there's no precedent for such a lawsuit anyway. GALEN wants to work constructively within the company, he says.

"It's a step-by-step process," Stark says.

Finally, he says Comair's simply not being forced to make the changes by either Delta or the general public.

Stark and Sprouse consider a boycott a last resort. They have run out of options and patience.

Miller disagrees.

"I think the company's been very responsive," he says.

Just this year Comair changed its sexual harassment policy to include sexual orientation, according to both Miller and Stark. But Stark says harassment is not the same as discrimination.

"The non-discrimination policy is an indicator for new hires that Comair wouldn't discriminate based on sexual orientation for promotions, advancements and wages," he says.

Miller was not happy to learn Stark and Sprouse had gone to the press. "There's an appropriate forum for these issues to be discussed," which is "for the company to work with the employees directly. We will conduct these conversations in that forum," Miller says. He refused to comment further.

Asked if he expects a backlash, Stark says quickly, "Yes. Oh yes."

He says non-union managerial employees are especially reluctant to come forward for fear of losing their jobs.

Stark and Sprouse, who are union members, don't consider themselves immune.

"Could we be losing our jobs for this?" Stark says. "Probably. We expect to be reprimanded for talking to the press. But we're at a loss for help." ©