Three black men have filed a racial discrimination lawsuit against American Airlines, alleging that the carrier briefly removed them from a flight after a complaint about body odour.
The men, did not know each other and were not seated together, said that every black man was removed from 5 January flight from Phoenix, Arizona, to New York.
The men said, American Airlines singled them out for being Black, embarrassed them, and humiliated them.
The Texas-based airline, said it was investigating the matter as the allegations did not align with its values.
According to a federal lawsuit filed by consumer advocacy group Public Citizen, the men had already taken their seats and were preparing to depart Phoenix when a flight attendant approached each of them and asked them to exit the plane.
The men said as they were leaving, they realized that every Black man on the flight was being removed.
Each of the men had flown from Los Angeles earlier that day, with no issue.
At the flight gate, the three men, along with five others, were told by an airline agent that they had been removed because a white male flight attendant had complained about an unidentified passenger’s body odur.
“There is no explanation other than the color of our skin”, clearly this was racial discrimination” said the men.
American Airlines employees tried to-re-book the men on other flights, but there were no other services to New York that night. The group was at that point allowed to re-take their seats on their seats on their original flight.
The American Airlines said in a statement that they take all claims of discrimination very seriously and want their customers to have a positive experience when they choose to fly with them.
“our teams are currently investigating the matter, as the claims do not reflect their core values or our purpose of caring for people.
The lawsuit adds that while the men waited outside the plane, the pilot made an announcement telling passengers that there was a delay due to an issue with “body odour” The plaintiffs say the claim about was false.
The lawsuit also stated throughout the flight-from the moment of their reboarding, in each interaction with the white male flight attendant, and continuing until landing-Plaintiffs experienced profound feelings of embarrassment, humiliation, anxiety, anger, and distress.
The act of returning to their seats after the unwarranted delay, navigating past the predominantly white passengers, several of whom eyed them with anger and undue suspicion, compounded their humiliation.
The lawsuit said that the airline should be forced to pay unspecified damages for the “trauma” the men endured.
One of the men suing said that “alienating” experience reminded him of Civil Rights hero Rosa Parks being forced to move to the back of an Alabama bus in1955 due to state-sanctioned racial discrimination.
“ it’s strange, crazy story that in 2024 we are still going through stuff like this” He said.
He concluded that the lawsuit is necessary to make sure American Airlines does not end up with a slap on the wrist.
In 2017, the NAACP, a civil rights group, issued a travel advisory telling black Americans to avoid American Airlines due to discrimination.
They lifted the advisory the following year after the carrier announced it had made changes to its operations.
Source: BBC
