Southwest gate agent mocks 5-year-old girl's name, posts boarding pass on social media

ORANGE CO., Cali. -- A Southwest Airlines gate agent at John Wayne Airport is accused of being rude to a five-year old girl - and on social media - because of the girl's unique name.

The girl's mother says the agent made fun of the name and even posted a photo of her boarding pass on social media for others to chime in.

Five-year-old Abcde Redford pronounces her name "ab-city."

"The gate agent started laughing, pointing at me and my daughter, talking to other employees. So I turned around and said, 'Hey if I can hear you, my daughter can hear you, so I'd appreciate if you'd just stop,'" Traci Redford said.

Redford and her daughter were catching a flight home to El Paso, Texas, a few weeks ago from John Wayne Airport in California.

Abcde lives with epilepsy, so the Redfords always pre-board.

"While I was sitting there, she took a picture of my boarding pass and chose to post it on social media, mocking my daughter. It was actually brought to my attention by somebody who had seen it on Facebook and reported it to Southwest Airlines. And after two weeks of doing a formal complaint, Southwest hadn't done anything," said Redford.

Southwest Airlines gave us this statement: "We extend our sincere apology to the family. We take great pride in extending our Southwest Hospitality to all of our Customers, which includes living by the Golden Rule and treating every individual with respect, in person or online. The post is not indicative of the care, respect, and civility we expect from all of our Employees. We have followed up with the Employee involved, and while we do not disclose personnel actions publicly, we are using this as an opportunity to reinforce our policies and emphasize our expectations for all Employees."

The employee in question didn't answer our request for comment.

Redford said she's using this experience as a lesson for her daughter.

"She said 'Mom, why is she laughing at my name? And I said not everyone is nice and not everyone is going to be nice and it's unfortunate.'"