British Airways employees suspended for making fun of 95 kg colleagues on WhatsApp

British Airways has suspended two crew members for making mean comments about a colleague’s weight behind her back.

“It was disgusting bullying,” an inside source told The Sun about the incident.

According to reports, the perpetrators had mocked the unidentified 95-kilogram stewardess in a WhatsApp group of which she was not a member.

These mean comments were brought to the attention of the victim, who is in her 20s, by a concerned colleague, according to The Sun newspaper. It was also reported that the devastated woman was afraid to return to work after reading these comments.

“The poor victim of the merciless fat jokes is completely lost,” the source described. “She had no idea that her colleagues despised her so much.”

They continued: “The cruel comments made her afraid to leave the house. She felt bullied.”

The woman’s colleague then brought the taunts to the attention of the BA management, which suspended the colleagues responsible and initiated an investigation into the incident.

“We have a zero-tolerance approach to bullying and always fully investigate all allegations brought to our attention,” airline officials said in a statement.

If convicted, the crew members concerned face permanent suspension. Five other members of the WhatsApp group are also under observation.

BA’s policy requires crew members to be at least 2m tall to perform their duties, which include opening aircraft doors and reaching into overhead bins.

“To meet the reach requirement, you will likely need to be at least 5’10” tall,” the company’s website states. “We measure your diagonal reach because it will be used to manually deploy an emergency slide in the event of an emergency.”

However, there is no indication that a maximum weight limit must apply to employees provided they can perform all the required tasks.