A former pilot for the Canadian airline Sunwing Airlines has lost his bid to get his job back after a labor arbitrator upheld the airline’s decision to terminate him over an email referencing fried chicken and watermelon, which was copied to his Black supervisor. The ruling centers on findings that the email relied on long-standing racist stereotypes and constituted serious workplace misconduct tied to racism.
According to the National Post, the controversy stems from an April 8, 2024, layover in Fredericton, New Brunswick. After expressing frustration about transportation limitations and food options available during the stop, pilot Darren Acri sent an email requesting “a large bucket of fried chicken, with slices of watermelon and a six pack of non-alcoholic Bud Light beer for me and my friends.” The message was copied to Michael Simmons, Sunwing’s then-director of line operations and Acri’s direct supervisor.
An investigation later concluded that the food request was not a genuine meal order. In a decision rendered on Friday, May 29, labor arbitrator Jesse Nyman found that the evidence supported only one reasonable conclusion: the email intentionally invoked racist stereotypes.
Acri was ultimately dismissed by the airline in February 2025 after being suspended pending the outcome of the investigation.
The ruling also addressed Acri’s explanation that he was unaware of the historical significance attached to the foods referenced in the email. In correspondence with human resources, the pilot wrote that he “was unaware of the ‘stigma’ associated with the meal request” and maintained that his goal was simply to access local restaurants and grocery stores.
He later apologized and described the incident as a misunderstanding.
Nyman rejected that explanation. “The only reasonable conclusion on the evidence before me is that on a balance of probabilities the grievor was not making a legitimate food order when he sent his email,” the arbitrator wrote.
He further concluded that the pilot “intentionally sent an email that played on racist tropes.” In the decision, Nyman described the message as “grotesque” and said it was dishonest to characterize it as anything less than a racist communication.
The association of fried chicken and watermelon with Black Americans dates back to the years following Emancipation, when racist propaganda and minstrel imagery weaponized common foods to portray Black people as inferior, childish, and uncultured.
Interestingly, this ruling took place in Canada, which has a different cultural history with Black people in North America, yet still recognized the racial stereotyping within Acri’s order.
Acri’s union, the Air Line Pilots Association, argued that he should be reinstated after sensitivity training, acknowledging that the email contained a racist statement while contending that termination was an excessive penalty. Nyman disagreed, ruling that Sunwing had just cause to dismiss the pilot.
