TSA Takes Its Sexy Back, Removes 'Freaky' Note Author
Blogger: TSA officer found "personal item" in luggage, left inappropriate note.
Oct. 26, 2011 — -- The Transportation Security Administration announced today it found the officer who penned "highly inappropriate" sex advice on an official form to a passenger after finding a "personal item" in the travelers luggage and has removed the employee from screening duties.
New York blogger Jill Filipovic got an unusual surprise courtesy of the TSA officer on Monday when she opened her bags after a flight to Dublin, Ireland. Inside, on a TSA search notification, someone had scrawled "GET YOUR FREAK ON GIRL" in big capital letters -- apparently referring to a "personal item" discovered in Filipovic's luggage.
"TSA quickly launched an investigation and identified the employee responsible. That individual was immediately removed from screening operations and appropriate disciplinary action has been initiated," the TSA wrote on its blog today. "The handwritten note was highly inappropriate and unprofessional, and TSA has zero tolerance for this type of behavior."
Filipovic, who tweeted a picture of the note and posted an entry on it the Feministe.us blog, initially said that though she thought the message was "a total violation of privacy... I also just died laughing in my hotel room."
Later, when speaking to ABC News, Filipovic said that after consideration she found the note "offensive" and said she would be filing a complaint after her travels.
"I hope they do see the complaint, they'll look into it and remind their staff that going through people's personal belongings is a responsibility that should be treated with some modicum of professionalism," Filipovic said Monday.
A spokesperson for the TSA told ABC News Monday it was possible that any number of people who handle the bags could have left the note, but their subsequent investigation appears to have revealed the uniformed culprit.
The TSA said in its blog that it reached out to Filipovic personally to apologize for the "unfortunate incident". Filipovic was not immediately available for comment on this report and has not tweeted or blogged about the TSA admission.