TSA agent Robert Henry jumped to his death inside the Orlando International Airport in February. Afterward, agents came forward to say Henry was bullied at work and that Transportation Security Administration has a toxic work environment.
An in Orlando found dozens of TSA workers across the country with similar stories of workplace harassment and retaliation.
One of those agents, Alison Demzon is a transgender woman working at Denver International Airport. In 2017, a new supervisor began misgendering her over and over again.
鈥淗e looks over and goes, 鈥楬ey Al, why don鈥檛 you come over, rather than Alison,鈥欌�� she said.
In October of 2018 a disabled woman in a wheelchair didn鈥檛 want Demzon to do a pat down because she was transgender. Afterwards, her supervisor berated her.
鈥淓ventually, with all that building on top of each other, I just couldn鈥檛 take it anymore,鈥� Demzon said. 鈥淚 just fell apart and started crying all over the place and had to be sent home.鈥�
Demzon was hospitalized on suicide watch. She had two previous suicide attempts before working at TSA.
Demzon returned to work after she passed a fitness for duty test two-and-a-half months later.
Demzon filed an equal employment opportunity complaint against TSA in 2018 saying she was discriminated against because she was transgender. She is far from the only one.
TSA had more than 400 EEOC complaints filed in 2018.
Christine Griggs is with TSA鈥檚 office of Civil Rights & Liberties. She said the number of TSA complaints is down and more are resolved before becoming legal cases.
She says TSA has a very similar number of complaints as Customs and Border Patrol, which has a similar number of employees.
鈥淪o if you take that 400 number, and you look at all of our employees as a whole, it represents a little bit less than 1 percent of our total population of employees,鈥� she said.
Griggs says now TSA is rolling out suicide prevention training. She said she was shocked to hear Robert Henry wrote in his suicide note 鈥淭ell my managers I鈥檒l be waiting for them in hell?
鈥淚 mean, it鈥檚 heartbreaking,鈥� Griggs said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 really heartbreaking that someone would get to that point in their life and more importantly there wasn鈥檛 somewhere along the line that we could have avoided that, that we as a family could have avoided that. So it鈥檚 shocking to me.鈥�
Former Transportation Security Officer Becky also worked at Denver International Airport.
The station is not using her last name because she filed a case with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and hopes a successful outcome will allow her to return to work for the federal government.
Becky says taking time off for a medical procedure kicked off a year of harassment and retaliation.
鈥淭hey don鈥檛 look at us like we鈥檙e people,鈥� she said. 鈥淭hey just look at us like we鈥檙e ants in a giant hill and they step on us whenever they feel like it.鈥�
She missed months of work without pay and was eventually fired. That sent her down a dark path, and she was hospitalized twice in the next three months for suicide attempts.
She says she immediately related when she heard about Robert Henry鈥檚 suicide in Orlando.
鈥淢y heart just broke into a million pieces,鈥� Becky said. 鈥淏ecause I was there and I could have been him (Rob Henry).鈥�
Now, Becky is packing kitchen gadgets into a big amazon box before her home is sold. She needs the money to pay for her lawyer.
鈥淚t鈥檚 very expensive $350 an hour,鈥� she said. 鈥淪o I have to sell my house and find somewhere else to go.鈥�
For Alison Demzon, she says lawmakers overseeing TSA have to stop playing politics.
鈥淧eople are dying,鈥� she said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 that simple.鈥�
Demzon is back working at Denver International. She spoke about her experiences during suicide awareness month. She says afterwards, ten or more TSA officers came forward and asked for help.
If you or someone you know is depressed or thinking about suicide call the National Suicide Prevention Hotline at 1-800-273-8255.
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