TSA Wants To Fire 25 Workers, Suspend Another 19 At Newark Airport For Misconduct

There’s been plenty of trouble stirring at Newark International Airport these days. In June we saw Transportation Security Administration workers get axed for falling asleep on the job and Air Marshals canned for boozing while training. Those employees will have company soon, as the TSA has proposed the firings of 25 employees and suspensions for 19 others at Newark for alleged misconduct.

What kind of misconduct, you ask? A TSA official tells ABC news the bad behavior related to “individuals violating standard operating procedures for screening checked bags at one of the airport’s 25 baggage screening rooms.” There are also sources who say some of the problems stemmed from officers snoozing on duty and not performing continuous random screening processes.

The terminations come hot on the heels of an internal TSA document that claimed there are a ton of large-scale security failures at the airport as reported by the New Jersey Star Ledger. The TSA says it has nothing to do with that, and instead said the agency had been looking into an alleged theft by a TSA officer for a year, and the firings were a result of that investigation.

The TSA says it “has a zero tolerance for misconduct in the workplace” and the agency “takes prompt and appropriate action with any employee who does not follow our procedures and engages in misconduct.”

It’s worth noting that ABC News has been keeping tabs on the TSA’s theft problem as well, and recently tracked a missing iPad to the home of a TSA officer. Since 2003, the TSA has axed 381 employees for theft.

TSA Set to Fire 25 Employees, Suspend 19 at Newark International [ABC News]

Want more consumer news? Visit our parent organization, Consumer Reports, for the latest on scams, recalls, and other consumer issues.