« The passengers this morning were United pass riders who were not in compliance with our dress code policy for company benefit travel, » United tweeted
United spokesman Jonathan Guerin said the girls were not allowed onto the Sunday morning flight because they were traveling under an employee travel pass that includes a dress code.
That dress code bars pass travelers from wearing spandex or lycra pants such as leggings. Guerin says the teenagers agreed to change their clothing and take a later flight.
Guerin says ticketed passengers are not subject to the same dress code and can wear leggings.
Shannon Watts — founder of Moms Demand Action, a movement working to combat gun violence — highlighted the incident in a slew of tweets, saying that a United gate agent forced the girls to change or put dresses over the leggings, or they would not be allowed to board.
