Pharma Giant GSK Fires Employee After Video Of His Abusive Meltdown On Flight Goes Viral

A man in the United States was fired from his job after being caught on video yelling racist slurs during a flight. The chemical engineer was terminated by his employer, pharmaceutical and biotechnology company GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), after footage surfaced on the internet, showing him having a meltdown shortly after boarding a flight at the Philadelphia International Airport. 

In the video, the man, dressed in a black T-shirt, was seen walking up and down the plane shouting expletives while looking for his bag. He yelled that he was a "little intoxicated", and even announced that he worked as a chemical engineer for GSK. He was recorded swearing at other passengers and asking a flight attendant if he would be kicked off the plane because he was racist. 

A disgusting homophobe gets kicked off his flight from Philadelphia for harassing the person seated beside him. The man has a huge meltdown on the way out bragging about his job at GlaxoSmithKline as a chemical engineer... Probably not for long sir. pic.twitter.com/NVir4Oj4Hn

— 🥀_Imposter_🕸️ (@Imposter_Edits) September 2, 2022

According to The Independent, the incident took place on Philadelphia to Dallas American Airlines flight. 

In the video, the man was heard calling GSK "one of the best f***ing companies in the world". But he also mentioned that he was planning to leave the firm. 

Reacting to the incident, on September 3, GlaxoSmithKline announced that the employee in the video had been terminated. The London-based multinational pharmaceutical giant released a statement online condemning the engineer's remarks as "reprehensible" and not reflecting the company's culture. 

On Wednesday, GSK was notified of an incident involving an employee on a flight to Dallas. We immediately conducted an investigation and as of Thursday, he is no longer employed at GSK. The person's behavior was reprehensible and does not reflect our company culture.

— GSK US (@GSKUS) September 2, 2022

Separately, in a statement to The Independent, the company added, "At GSK, diversity, equity and inclusion is embraced and celebrated and we are committed in policy, principle and practice to maintaining an environment which prohibits discriminatory behaviour and provides equal opportunity for all persons."

American Airlines has not yet commented on the incident. Philadelphia police also did not reveal if the airport confrontation resulted in any arrests.