Man charged with slapping toddler on Minneapolis-Atlanta flight lose job

MINNEAPOLIS - A man charged with slapping a toddler on a Minneapolis-to-Atlanta flight is out of a job, his former employer said Sunday.

Joe Rickey Hundley, of Hayden, Idaho, is no longer an employee of AGC Aerospace and Defence, Composites Group, Daniel Keeney of DPK Public Relations confirmed Sunday night.

Al Haase, president and CEO of AGC, released a statement Sunday that didn't refer to the 60-year-old Hundley by name but called reports of an executive's behaviour "offensive and disturbing" and said he "is no longer employed with the company."

Hundley was charged with assault last week after he was accused of slapping a two-year-old boy and called him a racial slur during the Feb. 8 flight.

His lawyer has said he will plead not guilty.