Eight Black men were temporarily removed from an American Airlines flight over a complaint about body order, according to a new lawsuit.
On Wednesday (May 29), a lawsuit was filed on behalf of three of the men — Alvin Jackson, Emmanuel Jean Joseph, and Xavier Veal — against American Airlines alleging “blatant and egregious racial discrimination,” per Axios.
The lawsuit states the eight passengers were kicked off their January 5 flight from Phoenix, Arizona to New York “without any valid reason, and solely based on their race.”
“Representatives of American told them that they were removed from the flight because of a complaint about a Black male passenger who allegedly had offensive body odor,” the suit states.
The eight men weren’t seated together and didn’t know each other.
According to the lawsuit, the men didn’t have any offensive body odor, and “at no time did anyone ever specifically accuse any of them of having offensive body odor.”
“When Plaintiffs pointed out that they were being treated unfairly due to the color of their skin, at least one of the American staff members said she did ‘not disagree,’” the suit reads.
According to the lawsuit, the eight men were initially told they would have to be rebooked on a different flight. However, “only after determining that there were no available American flights” that day, the airline “reversed course” and told them they could reboard their initial flight.
“The whole ordeal was traumatic, upsetting, scary, humiliating, degrading, and outrageous. American’s blatant profiling was malicious and racist,” the lawsuit states.
The lawsuit further alleges that American Airlines’ “pattern of racial bigotry” prompted the NAACP to issue a travel advisory for Black passengers in 2017.
In a statement, American Airlines said the allegations “do not reflect our core values or our purpose of caring for people.”
“We take all claims of discrimination very seriously and want our customers to have a positive experience when they choose to fly with us,” a spokesperson said.
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