
Lands' End Sued by More Delta Air Lines Employees over Uniforms - quotha
https://www.bizjournals.com/milwaukee/news/2020/01/03/lands-end-sued-by-more-delta-air-lines-employees.html
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eqvinox
How is Delta not jumping on supporting their employees on this? They don't
have much to lose by chastising a supplier, yet a lot to gain in service
quality from people being comfortable at their job. It makes no sense from a
business PoV... is Delta somehow profiting on these uniforms or what?

~~~
ambulancechaser
It mentions in the article that Delta investigated the issue:

> "Our top priority continues to be the safety of our employees, which is why
> we invested in a rigorous toxicology study to determine if there was a
> universal scientific issue with the uniform," Delta Air Lines (NYSE: DAL)
> said in a statement in response to the May lawsuit. "The results of the
> study confirm our uniforms meet the highest textile standards (OEKO-TEX)
> with the exception of the optional flight attendant apron, which we removed
> from the collection."

Delta took this seriously and commissioned a toxicology study. The results are
that the clothing meets the highest textile standards. What should Delta do at
this time?

~~~
eqvinox
> What should Delta do at this time?

Investigate more? I mean, apparently a whole bunch of their employees are
indicating there's some sort of an issue with these uniforms. A few
individuals might be a fluke, but at this point I expect Delta management to
be concerned about this supplier damaging their employee performance and thus
Delta's bottom line...

~~~
trhway
>I expect Delta management to be concerned about this supplier damaging their
employee performance and thus Delta's bottom line...

there is no "Delta management". Like in any other typical BigCo the VP(s)
responsible for supplies like uniforms is different from those VPs who may
have any relationship with the employee performance. The supply VP gets his
bonus based on KPIs like cost saving, thus the cheapest/etc. uniform even if
that uniform causes issues to the employees and significantly impacts their
performance. Their performance isn't in the supply VP bonus KPIs. Imagine
yourself in the shoes of that poor supply VP - you can provide better uniforms
and lose the millions of the bonus, or you can have the bonus ... So far it
has been my observation that a VP always chooses his bonus and defends it to
the last man standing. Even if some other (exceptional as such things almost
never happen) VP tries to push the supply VP, the supply VP provides that
"toxicology report meeting highest standards" and that is it, deal with your
disgruntled capricious employees yourself.

~~~
tatersolid
Nice rant but you miss a very important fact: there is _no way_ Land’s End is
“the cheapest uniform” Delta could have selected.

~~~
trhway
B2B is different from B2C. With that being said, just checked their B2C site -
for example a commodity like women jeans is $25-35 on the low end. The Land's
End manufacturing seems to be mostly China, India, Mexico. It is hard to be
cheapest than that.

~~~
tatersolid
I’ve been involved in purchasing reasonably large quantities of uniforms
(because why not also stick facilities and other random stuff under IT so we
can exercise our “purchasing acumen”).

Land’s End is mid-range in cost and quality as far as uniforms go. Especially
compared with the super-cheap drop-ship-from-Vietnam vendors.

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erentz
Reminds me of this, apparently engine oils get burnt and sucked into the bleed
air that feeds cabins and is neurotoxic:

The 'asbestos of the airline industry' killing flyers | 60 Minutes Australia

[https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=D97No_7fbR4](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=D97No_7fbR4)

~~~
selimthegrim
Maybe it’s reacting with something in the uniforms? That way the uniforms by
themselves would still pass toxicology testing

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LCTexas
Two interesting links and an excerpt

[https://www.nbcboston.com/news/local/delta-airlines-
uniform-...](https://www.nbcboston.com/news/local/delta-airlines-uniform-
controversy_necn/121378/)

[https://www.terrellhogan.com/terrell-hogan-representing-
mult...](https://www.terrellhogan.com/terrell-hogan-representing-multiple-
delta-flight-attendants-claiming-toxic-uniforms-making-them-sick/)

“Unveiled in May 2018, the purple uniforms – because of the chemical additives
and finishes – were supposed to be wrinkle-free, stain-resistant, waterproof
and fire retardant, according to Delta employees and information supplied by
the airline.”

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neonate
[http://archive.md/9KpFo](http://archive.md/9KpFo)

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PHGamer
lol its the 2020s now and we still dont know how to do clothing. WTH , we
should already have a known set of fabrics and dyes that just work for any
color or feel.

~~~
bagacrap
On the contrary clothing is getting better all the time. I shutter to think
how terrible it must have been to try to walk through a cold rain 100 years
ago, or engage in any kind of athletics under basically any circumstances.

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Balanceinfinity
Could also be mass hysteria

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mass_psychogenic_illness](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mass_psychogenic_illness)

