Recently, a woman got in a serious amount of trouble after an outburst on a plane, in which she insulted both a flight attendant and a fellow passenger. Susan Peirez, later identified as a US government employee, was on a Delta flight from JFK Airport to Hancock Airport when the incident occurred.
Maria Rundell, a 19-year-old mother from Rochester New York, became a target of the rant when Peirez complained about her crying son. “She came to the back and slammed her bags down." Rundell told the Daily Mail. "She said ‘this is f****** ridiculous. It’s bull**** having to sit in the back of the plane.'”
The young mother asked that Peirez stop cursing near her son, but was told, “shut the f*** up and shove it.” At this point, Rundell began to film her actions on her phone. When flight attendant Tabitha got involved, Peirez told her, "you may not have a job tomorrow". Additional staff were called to escort her from the plane, and soon after it was Peirez who was eating her words.
After Rundell shared the video online, the footage went viral, amassing close to two million views on Facebook. You can see the full rant in the video below:
Peirez, who was the former program director for the former NY State Council on the Arts, has reportedly been put on work leave, with an official statement released by the Director of Public Information Ronni Reich:
“State employees are and must be held to the highest standard both professionally and personally. We were notified of this situation and have commenced an investigation. This employee has been removed from the office and placed on leave until further notice and until the inquiry is resolved.”
There have been a wide range of responses to the issue, with some commenters glad to see her removed from the plane, and others lamented how it all turned out. "Our society has gotten way too obsessed with getting people fired from their jobs," one Facebook user wrote. "Any transgression and we want people to lose their livelihood".
Talking to Inc.com afterwards, Rundell explained that while she doesn't regret her decision to share the video, she does regret that it has affected Peirez' job. "I kind of feel bad for this lady, I don't know her story, she doesn't know mine," she said. "It might have been a misunderstanding. I was sharing [the video] for family members, and it started going crazy.”
