The TSA is working to fire six bag screeners, and suspend 14 more, at Boston Logan International Airport, reports The Boston Globe.
Those up for suspension are charged with "violating inspection procedures," while the others were called out for "inattention to duty," according to the paper. These indiscretions were discovered after a routine audit showed the agents were paying more attention to their cell phones than the baggage screening monitors. They will be out for three to 14 days, unpaid.
"All TSA employees are held to the highest standards of conduct and accountability," the agency said in a statement, according to the Associated Press. "These standards are critical to our work and TSA's commitment to the safety of the traveling public."
CNN reports that the six agents being fired failed to consistently send those checked bags requiring a secondary screening to the proper agents. No threats were found in the bags that should have been inspected, as luggage passes through more layers security after their screening.
Boston's Logan Airport was in the news earlier this month after TSA officers complained that their coworkers are targeting minorities.
In December 2011, officials at Charlotte Douglas International Airport had to probe reports that 12 security officers botched bag screenings. In January, eight TSA workers were suspended at Newark Liberty International airport for reasons including sleeping on the job and failing to screen baggage properly. June saw five TSA workers fired and 38 suspended from Southwest Florida International Airport for failing to perform random screenings. A baggage screener who left a note saying "Get your freak on girl" inside a woman's suitcase that contained a sex toy was fired from Newark last year.
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