JetBlue worker slammed for ‘racist’ homeless person Halloween costume

An airline worker who dressed up for Halloween has offended social media users, with some calling saying she should be sacked.

An airline worker in the United States who dressed as a homeless person “trying to get back to Puerto Rico or Cuba” is being slammed on social media for what some are calling a “racist and highly offensive” depiction.

The JetBlue employee dressed down as a homeless person wearing tattered and soiled clothing, with a homemade cardboard sign around her neck that read “Homeless. Need help trying to get back home to Puerto Rico or Cuba,” an image of the worker posted to Twitter shows.

“This was the costume of a JetBlue employee at the airport in Fort Lauderdale, FL,” Twitter user @nats2548 captioned a shot of the worker standing in the JetBlue terminal in the Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport. “I want to read your opinions.”

The airline worker's costume has been slammed online

Criticism swelled quickly, with some calling for the worker to be fired.

“@JetBlue needs to fire her a – and issue a public apology for her costume because I find it highly offensive and … I personally won’t be flying JetBlue until they issue an apology … ” Twitter user @dominopr777 seethed.

Others said the costume was tone-deaf to survivors of Hurricane Maria, the worst natural disaster in Puerto Rican history. The 2017 storm left over 3,000 people dead and thousands more homeless.

JetBlue is the largest airline carrier in Puerto Rico, while Fort Lauderdale is nearly 20 per cent Latino, according to NBC News.

The airline worker is employed by JetBlue, which is the largest airline carrier in Puerto Rico.

The company apologised in a statement to the network and said “the situation was immediately addressed.”

“In the spirit of Halloween, our crew members are welcome to celebrate in costume, but one crew member chose a costume that was clearly insensitive and not in line with our costume policy,” said Derek Dombrowski, manager of corporate communications at JetBlue.

This article originally appeared on the New York Post and has been republished with permission