Security screener fired after handing traveler ‘you ugly’ note

Neal Strassner was going through the Greater Rochester International Airport when the security guard handed him a torn piece of paper with the words “you ugly” written on it.

"I got handed something. I really didn't look at the thing, I kept going," Strassner told WHAM. "She called back to me a few times, asked me if I was going to read the note or open it or something. I look at it, look at her and kind of shrug my shoulders ... and she laughed."

The incident took place in late June. Strassner waited more than a month for the video after filing a Freedom of Information request for it, WROC reported.

The employee works for VMD Corp. a security company based in Virginia, contracted through the TSA. VMD did not comment. TSA confirmed the employee was fired, WROC reported.

"TSA holds contractors to the highest ethical standards and has zero tolerance for this type of behavior," the agency said in a statement. "This instance, which involved a contract employee, was investigated immediately upon receiving the complaint by the traveler. The employee has since been terminated by the contractor."

Strassner was not bothered by the note, but he did notice at the end of the video the woman appears to write another one.

"I'm really curious what the other notes said," Strassner told WROC. "I travel a lot, and the airport normally is spectacular. This was a totally weird event that they (VMD Corp.) seemed to handle properly. I travel a lot and just want to make sure they get some credit to their organization and don't let one lady trash their whole reputation."