It’s about time. A professional airline pilot has refused to submit to one of the TSA’s full-body scans, resulting in the TSA agents detaining him and preventing him from reporting to work.
Michael Roberts says he refused to go through, not because he’s a pilot, but instead because he believes nobody should have to be subjected to “a virtual strip search.”
Roberts was traveling Friday from his hometown of Memphis to Houston, where he’s based as a pilot for ExpressJet Airlines. He says a TSA agent asked him to take off his shoes and enter the new machine. He told the agent he wasn’t willing. “I’m not going to do it,” he says. “Not once am I going to show them my naked body.”
Mr Roberts wasn’t just thinking of himself. He has explained in great detail to the press how he considers this a civil liberties issue of great importance. I agree. It’s not just a matter of bashfulness, it’s a matter of who should have control over your body. No innocent person should ever be forced to expose their naked body or be touched in certain places by a government agent. Ever.
Naturally the TSA reported the “incident” to Mr Roberts’ employer, ExpressJet Airlines, and as far as he knows his employment status is “on hold.” Which brings up several more ethical issues. Is it okay for an employer to discipline an employee for refusing to allow naked photos to be taken of him by an unseen third-party? In any other circumstance wouldn’t that constitute sexual harassment?
I certainly wouldn’t want to work for any company that would have such abhorrent expectations. And I don’t want to live in a country where the long arm of the law feels the need to reach into my underpants.
Related articles
- In praise of Michael Roberts, body-scan rebel (salon.com)
- Pilot Who Refused Full-Body Scan Railed Against TSA For Months [Planelopnik] (jalopnik.com)
