TSA fires 5 workers, suspends 38 in Fla.

FORT MYERS, Fla., June 4 (UPI) -- The Transportation Security Administration fired five workers and suspended 38 others for not performing screenings at a Florida airport, a spokesman said.

TSA spokesman David Castelveter confirmed to The (Fort Myers) News-Press Monday that the disciplinary actions were taken Friday after an internal investigation found the employees failed to perform random screenings last year at Southwest Florida International Airport outside Fort Myers.

The front-line screeners and supervisors represent about 15 percent of the estimated 280 TSA employees at the airport, the newspaper said. Castelveter said it was one of the largest disciplinary actions the security agency has implemented in its 10-year history.

The workers can appeal, he said.

Screeners have been brought in from other airports to handle the duties at Southwest Florida International Airport.

Nearly 4 million passengers departed from the airport last year. As many as 400 should have been subjected to random checks during a two-month period but were not, the investigation found.

Castelveter said TSA officials were tipped by an airport employee.