Attorney for Flying Food Group: Unite Here's conduct is 'utterly unacceptable in a workplace context; it is illegal'

In 2025, Flying Food Group employees at LAX filed multiple unfair labor practice charges against UNITE HERE Local 11, according to the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation. The filings accuse union officials of employing "mob-like tactics, physical confrontations, false accusations, and retaliation" against employees who opposed or questioned the union. These charges represent the third round of federal complaints from Flying Food Group employees regarding alleged harassment and misconduct by UNITE HERE representatives.

Another complaint filed in 2025 describes repeated harassment of LAX catering worker Kenia Solano by UNITE HERE Local 11 representatives. According to filings, union staff allegedly subjected Solano to intimidation, verbal abuse, and coercion due to her dissent from union positions. The charges detail these actions as part of a broader pattern of union pressure on employees at Flying Food Group.

Washton is a partner at Thompson Hine LLP based in Los Angeles, California. She has served there since July 2024 and previously held partner-level positions at Conkle, Kremer & Engel and Lurie & Seltzer. Her career began at Towle Denison Smith & Maniscalco LLP. Washton earned her Juris Doctor from the University of Southern California in 2003 and her Bachelor of Arts in History from UC San Diego in 2000.