NEWARK, N.J., Jan. 30 (UPI) -- A baggage screener at the Newark, N.J., airport who allegedly failed to properly check two bags that raised red flags may lose his job, officials said.
The Transportation Security Administration said the Dec. 9 incident caused two planeloads of luggage to be unloaded and re-screened at Newark Liberty International Airport, The (Newark) Star-Ledger reported.
Now, the airport employee, identified as Kujuanne McNiel, is likely to be dismissed, said Stacy Bodtmann, an official with Local 2222 of the American Federation of Government Employees union, which represents TSA workers.
Bodtmann said the TSA proposed firing McNiel following a disciplinary hearing soon after the incident. She said McNiel opposed the proposal and a final decision in the case is likely this week.
Meanwhile, six other employees have been fired for failure to follow protocols, under a crackdown intended to improve security at the Newark airport, said Bodtmann said.
Bodtmann said any failures involving the six other employees were likely the result of poor or insufficient training under Newark's recently ousted federal security director, Barbara Bonn Powell.
"It has a lot to do with the training," Bodtmann said. "It has a lot to do with the management, it has a lot to do with the supervisors, it has a lot to do with being short staffed."
