Three Black men have filed a federal lawsuit against American Airlines, alleging they were racially discriminated against when asked to deplane a Phoenix to New York City flight in January over a body odor complaint, despite not knowing each other or being seated together.
In the lawsuit filed Wednesday in the Eastern District of New York, plaintiffs Alvin Jackson, Emmanuel Jean Joseph, and Xavier Veal claim an American Airlines employee asked eight Black male passengers to exit the plane on January 5th before eventually allowing them to reboard about an hour later.
Jackson and Jean Joseph stated in interviews that they felt singled out and humiliated for being Black during the incident.
“Being grouped and removed hits all these trigger points of things that I don’t think should happen to Black people anymore,” Jackson told NBC News.
Jean Joseph added that being made to deplane gave the impression “they” were criminals as other passengers looked on.
“It still affects me,” he said. “When I do get on a plane again, it’s going to be something that haunts me.”
While American Airlines said it is investigating and takes discrimination claims seriously, the plaintiffs’ lawyer Sue Huhta stated the airline has provided no answers, calling it “fairly apparent that race was part of this dynamic.”
“It’s almost inconceivable to come up with an explanation for that other than the color of their skin, particularly since they didn’t know each other and weren’t sitting near each other,” said Huhta.
The plaintiffs are seeking awards of compensatory damages to be determined in a jury trial.
“They suffered during the entire flight home, and the entire incident was traumatic, upsetting, scary, humiliating, and degrading,” the lawsuit said.
The lawsuit also alleges that American Airlines has a documented history of mistreating Black passengers, citing a 2017 NAACP travel advisory warning Black passengers that their safety could be compromised if they flew American Airlines, referencing a series of “troublesome conduct” by employees at the time.