PHOENIX — Three Black men who sued American Airlines for race discrimination after they were removed from a flight from Phoenix to New York City have agreed to settle the lawsuit.
The settlement terms are confidential but include a commitment by American Airlines to take action to prevent discrimination in the future, according to Emily Leach of the Public Citizen Litigation Group, which represented the men in the lawsuit.
American Airlines has terminated employment of the flight attendants responsible for the men’s removal.
“We are very pleased that American Airlines took our complaint seriously and we hope that this never happens to Black passengers or any other people of color again,” plaintiffs Alvin Jackson, Emmanuel Jean Joseph, and Xavier Veal said in a joint statement.
“Our goal in speaking out has always been to create change. We are proud that we used our voices to make a difference in the lives of Black Americans.”
Black men sue American Airlines: What happened
Jackson, Joseph and Veal did not know each other before the flight and were not seated together, according to the complaint filed in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York. Their removal from the Jan. 5 flight and their following interactions with American Airlines staff amounted to a “humiliating, degrading and deeply traumatizing” experience, the complaint said.
According to the lawsuit, an airline worker removed the three plaintiffs and five other Black men from the Phoenix-New York flight after a white male flight attendant complained about body odor.
None of the men removed from the plane had been accused by other passengers of having body odor. Plaintiffs alleged American’s staff discriminated against them because they are Black, adding that an airline employee approached them one by one and ordered them off the plane without explanation.
“Plaintiffs complied and, once they reached the jet bridge, they saw that several other Black men were also being removed from the plane,” read the complaint. “In fact, it appeared to Plaintiffs that American had ordered all of the Black male passengers on Flight 832 off the plane.”
After their removal from the flight, the men returned to the gate to rebook and were told there were no other flights that evening. They were eventually allowed back on the plane but claimed “rude and discriminatory” behavior persisted during the flight.
How American Airlines responded to the lawsuit
One month after the race discrimination lawsuit was filed, American Airlines CEO Robert Isom told his employees in an internal memo that the passengers’ removal was “unacceptable” and that the company “fell short of our commitments and failed our customers in this incident.”
Isom said American Airlines would take the following steps to improve the flying experience for Black passengers:
- Creating an “oversight and excellence advisory group” focused on “improving the travel experience for Black customers.”
- Strengthening American’s oversight and reporting procedures for handling customer concerns about discrimination or bias.
- Re-evaluating American’s policies to improvement on how it handles “situations that may result in the removal of passengers.”
- Introducing new employee training that will focus on how they can “recognize and address bias and discrimination” in real-world situations.
“American Airlines’ commitment to take concrete actions to address discrimination is a significant departure from the way public companies have historically dealt with individual race discrimination claims,” Susan Huhta, partner at Outten & Golden and counsel for the men who sued American, said in a statement.
“We are pleased to have reached a resolution that will allow these brave men to move forward with their heads held high.”
Contributing: Minnah Arshad
Michael Salerno is an award-winning journalist who’s covered travel and tourism since 2014. His work as The Arizona Republic’s consumer travel reporter aims to help readers navigate the stresses of traveling and get the best value for their money on their vacations. He can be reached at Michael.Salerno@gannett.com. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter: @salerno_phx.