Airline crew member fined for discriminating against deaf passenger

A court in Puerto Princesa City, Palawan, has convicted an AirAsia senior cabin crew member for refusing to allow a deaf passenger to board a flight in 2017.

The Municipal Trial Court in Cities Branch 1 found Richie A. Rojas guilty of violating the Magna Carta for Persons with Disabilities and ordered her to pay a P50,000 fine in its October 29, 2026 decision.

The case stemmed from the May 30, 2017 incident in which Rojas offloaded passenger Khalil F. Haj and two other deaf Filipinos.

The court rejected her claim that Haj’s hearing disability posed a safety risk, noting that he was not violent and had not harmed anyone.

“The court is not convinced that there was any genuine safety issue with respect to the complainant,” the decision stated.

Although the court found no sufficient basis to conclude that Rojas acted out of malice, it ruled that she intentionally refused to transport Haj because of his disability.

Haj, a resident of Murcia, Negros Occidental, pursued the case for nearly a decade, with the Court of Appeals and Supreme Court both upholding his position before it returned to the trial court.

Liza B. Martinez, convenor of the Filipino Sign Language National Network, called the ruling a victory for the Deaf community. She said Haj pursued the case to defend the right of persons with disabilities to equal treatment.IMT