ATLANTA (AP) -- The employer of a 60-year-old Idaho executive says it has suspended the man after authorities charged him with slapping a 2-year-old boy aboard a flight to Atlanta.

Reports say the parent company of Unitech Composites and Structures in Hayden, Idaho, confirmed Saturday that its president, Joe Rickey Hundley, was suspended pending the outcome of the criminal investigation.

Al Haase, president and CEO of parent company AGC Aerospace and Defense, Composite Group, said in a statement the company is "taking this matter seriously."

Hundley was charged with simple assault after Jessica Bennett of Minneapolis told authorities he slapped her crying boy in the face and used a racial slur.

Hundley's attorney, Marcia Shein, said Friday that "it is important to let the case develop."