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Wiccan Claims She Was Target Of TSA Witch Hunt
By
Ben Yakas
Published Mar 31, 2011
Modified Mar 31, 2011
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By
Ben Yakas
Published Mar 31, 2011
Modified Mar 31, 2011
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A former TSA agent says that she was fired from her job touching people's junk in airports because of her Wiccan beliefs. Carole Smith says that a coworker complained that she had cast a disabling spell on the heater of her car one snowy evening. When her boss confronted her about the allegations, she said: “I was dumbfounded. I told him, that's not what Wicca is. We don't cast spells. That's not witchcraft. That's black magic or voodoo or something else. To put a spell on a heater of a car, if I had that kind of power, I wouldn't be working for TSA. I would go buy lottery tickets and put a spell on the balls.”
The TSA says she was fired from Albany International Airport because of insubordination and performance issues, but Smith is convinced it was because of her Wiccan beliefs, as well as her criticisms of lax airport security. She said she was routinely subject to comments and jokes from coworkers such as, “Where did you park your broom?”, “Why don't you come to work in your pointy hat?”, and “She's going to put a hex on me.”
There were some attempts at mediations between coworkers, which alienated Smith more, before she was fired: "[My supervisor] wanted me to go to ICMS and sit down with Mary and explain my religion to her. I'm like, 'No.' I refused to do that. It's not up to me to teach her my religion. I mean, would I have to go down and sit with her if I was Jewish?” Smith fought the initial firing in 2009, but lost her first challenge when an administrative law judge ruled against her last December—she's planning an appeal of that decision now. It must be pretty tough out there for a witch these days, even if you're just dabbling in witchcraft.
Tagged
air travel
carole smith
religion
spell
tsa
wiccan
witch hunt
witches
Ben Yakas
Ben Yakas is a former Gothamist reporter.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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