NEWARK, N.J. — A Transportation Security Administration (TSA) screener at New Jersey’s Newark Airport who found a sex toy in the baggage of a transatlantic traveler — then advised her in writing what to do with it — was facing disciplinary action Wednesday.
“Get your freak on girl” was found written in black ink on the back of a TSA notice, Dublin-bound passenger Jill Filipovic revealed on her Twitter page after the weekend incident.
“Just unpacked my suitcase and found this note from TSA,” the lawyer and blogger tweeted. “Guess they discovered a ‘personal item’ in my bag. Wow.”
On the TSA’s blog on Wednesday a statement said that bosses had launched an investigation after becoming aware of the situation and had “identified the employee responsible.”
“That individual was immediately removed from screening operations and appropriate disciplinary action has been initiated. The handwritten note was highly inappropriate and unprofessional, and TSA has zero tolerance for this type of behavior,” the statement added.
“Agency officials have also reached out to the passenger to personally apologize for this unfortunate incident.”
Filipovic lives in New York. Her Twitter account indicated Wednesday that she had flown to Dublin to talk about feminism, sexual assault and abortion at Trinity College, AFP reported.
In an email to FOXNews.com on Monday Filipovic wrote she was transitioning to being “pretty disturbed” by the note, adding that TSA agents are given a lot of authority with little oversight.
She wrote that she suspected “whoever left the note felt comfortable doing so (I also suspect that they believed most women would be embarrassed to be ‘caught’ with personal items and wouldn’t file a complaint),” she wrote in the email. “That is certainly cause for concern.”