A self-proclaimed chemical engineer was reportedly fired from his job after his racist and homophobic meltdown on an airplane was caught on film.
The disgruntled passenger seen in the footage obtained by TMZ was identified as Zachary Easterly.
According to Queerty, he was escorted off a flight on August 30 that was flying from Philadelphia to Dallas for "bothering his seatmate."
Easterly could be heard exclaiming he was being kicked off the plane "because I'm racist" and "a little intoxicated," before going off on fellow passengers.
When the flight staff asked him to retrieve his bag and asked what color it was, he responded:
"Obviously, I’m a White male that picked a black bag ‘cuz I’m racist."
He added he had “a better bag than most of y’all can afford.”
You can watch the clip below.
Warning: NSFW language.
Things escalated when he hurled homophobic slurs and yelled:
“f'k all ya’ll! I hope all you liberal f**gots f'king crash the f'king plane.”
First things first, the way the airline staff calmly responded with authority was commendable.
Easterly, on the other hand, was given the stank eye.
On his way out of the aircraft, he turned around and informed people where he worked and then encouraged them to contact his company.
“I’m a chemical engineer," he said and referred to the company he worked for, GlaxoSmithKline, by using a homophobic slur.
He quickly added:
"I'm planning to quit anyway. Reach out to the company."
@WestsideFireman/Twitter
Whether his planning to quit or not was true, he already sealed his own fate when he instructed people to contact his pharmaceutical and biotechnology company.
The internet eagerly went to work.
When TMZ reached out to GlaxoSmithKline, they informed the media outlet:
"We immediately conducted an investigation and as of Thursday, he is no longer employed at GSK."
"The person’s remarks were reprehensible and do not reflect our company culture."
His toxic meltdown continued after deplaning.
In the video below, Easterly was heard using the n-word inside the terminal and threatening to kill people until airport security officers managed to wrestle him to the ground.
Warning: NSFW language.
Chemical Engineer Hurled N-Word, Got in Fight During Airplane Freakout | TMZyoutu.be
The GSK statement further read:
"At GSK, diversity, equity and inclusion is embraced and celebrated and we are committed in policy, principle and practice to maintaining an environment which prohibits discriminatory behavior and provides equal opportunity for all persons."
While people have been fired from all levels of work for many different reasons, this one is for the books.
@jaketapoer/Bluesky
