Three black men have filed a lawsuit against American Airlines, claiming they were unfairly removed from a plane due to discrimination.
The lawsuit alleges that the men were removed from the plane following a complaint from a white flight attendant about the smell of an unidentified passenger. A lawsuit was recently filed in New York regarding an incident that took place on January 5. Alvin Jackson, Emmanuel Jean Joseph, and Xavier Veal, who did not know one another and were not seated together, boarded American Airlines Flight 832 from Phoenix to New York.
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Prior to departure and shortly after the pilot announced a potential early arrival time, the lawsuit alleges that an American Airlines representative approached Alvin Jackson, Emmanuel Jean Joseph, and Xavier Veal individually and instructed them to deplane without providing any reason. Furthermore, the lawsuit states that in addition to the three plaintiffs, five other Black male passengers were also removed from the aircraft. Footage of the event captured the plaintiffs questioning the reason behind their removal, as it appeared that every Black male passenger on the flight was being singled out for displacement.
“What happened to us was wrong. Imagine a flight attendant ordering every white person off a plane because of a complaint about one white person,” said the three plaintiffs, Alvin Jackson, Emmanuel Jean Joseph, and Xavier Veal, in a statement.
“That would never happen. But that is what happened to us. There is no explanation other than the color of our skin. American Airlines singled us out for being Black, embarrassed us, and humiliated us. Clearly, this was discrimination.”
Following American Airlines’ offer to reschedule their flight, it was revealed after an hour that there were no available alternative flights to New York that evening, as outlined in the lawsuit. Subsequently, the passengers were permitted to re-enter the plane, resulting in a delay of over an hour for the flight.
“What happened to the plaintiffs strongly suggests that American Airlines racially profiled them,” said Susan Huhta, partner at Outten & Golden and attorney for the plaintiffs.
“If American Airlines received a complaint about a Black male passenger with offensive body odor but could not verify the complaint, the solution should not have been to eject eight separate Black men from the plane. This incident is consistent with a disturbing history of allegations that American Airlines discriminates against Black passengers. We look forward to getting these men justice and, hopefully, decreasing the likelihood that American Airlines ever does this to another Black passenger.”