Privacy, Assault and the TSA

The Transportation Security Administration says it "has implemented strict measures to protect passenger privacy" when it comes to the use of full-body scanning machines. Employee privacy may be another matter.

The Smoking Gun reported Thursday on the case of Rolando Negrin, a TSA employee at Miami International Airport who stands accused of assaulting a co-worker with a police baton in an airport parking lot on May 4. The alleged attack stemmed from an incident at a previous training session that Miami New Times says occurred last year.

According to a police report obtained by The Smoking Gun, an "investigation revealed that [Negrin] was upset after training with [a] 'whole body image' machine. The x-ray revealed that [Negrin] has a small penis and co-workers made fun of him on a daily basis. [Negrin] stated he could not take the jokes any more and lost his mind."

Obviously, that's no excuse for attacking a co-worker. But the story certainly raises some questions about why TSA training would involve potentially subjecting its employees to embarassing ridicule by co-workers.