A former Delta flight attendant is suing the airline after being fired for posting a carton of Donald Trump wearing a Ku Klux Klan hood on Facebook. 

Leondra Taylor alleges that her dismissal violated her civil rights and accused the airline of unlawfully retaliating, according to court documents seen by Insider. 

Representatives for Delta Air Lines did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.

Taylor, who is African-American, said in the lawsuit she was dismissed in April 2021 over a cartoon that Delta deemed to be "racially motivated" and in breach of its social media policy.

The image showed the former president wearing a Ku Klux Klan hood at a debate with Joe Biden as a moderator says: "Thank you, Mr. President, for wearing your mask."

Taylor admitted to posting the image on Facebook but claims that although the post was political, it was not hateful, disrespectful, or discriminatory. The lawsuit said the cartoon instead made a point about COVID-19 protective measures and systemic racial discrimination against African-Americans.

The lawsuit, filed in a Georgia district court, alleged that Delta had actively examined Taylor's social media history after she helped another flight attendant who was also fired for breaching the company's strict social media policies.

The lawsuit alleged that another Delta employee, who is white, had not been terminated for her political posts on social media.

Flight attendants at Delta have been struggling with difficult working conditions in recent months. One told The Guardian that she and her colleagues put up with "so much" abuse from passengers amid a summer of travel chaos.

Flight attendants at Delta are trying to unionize. It is the only major US airline in the where cabin crew are not represented by a union.