Dr. Tamika Cross, a black woman, said Delta staff didn't believe she was a doctor when she volunteered to help a man who became unresponsive on her flight.
Cross wrote Thursday in a Facebook post that a Delta Air Lines flight attendant told her, “Oh no, sweetie, put your hand down,” when she offered her help during a medical emergency.
“I’m sure many of my fellow young, corporate America working women of color can all understand my frustration when I say I’m sick of being disrespected,” she said. The post had been shared nearly 40,000 times by Thursday afternoon.
Cross, an OB-GYN in Houston, said the flight attendant asked her a slew of questions to confirm her credibility as a doctor before going with a "seasoned white male" to assist in the emergency instead.
“She says to me ‘thanks for your help but he can help us, and he has his credentials.’ (Mind you, he hasn’t shown anything to her. Just showed up and fit the ‘description of a doctor’),” Cross continued in her post.
After the post erupted across social media, Delta announced an investigation into the situation that happened during a flight from Detroit to Minneapolis on Sunday morning.
“Discrimination of any kind is never acceptable,” Delta spokeswoman Catherine Sirna said in a statement. “We’ve been in contact with Dr. Cross and one of our senior leaders is reaching out to assure her that we’re completing a full investigation.”
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