Three black men in the US have filed a racial discrimination lawsuit against American Airlines, alleging they were ejected from a flight following a complaint about “body odour”.
Complaint documents state on January 5 of this year, the three plaintiffs, alongside five other black passengers were approached by a representative from the airline and one by one, were ordered off the plane bound for Phoenix.
“American Airlines singled us out for being black, embarrassed us, and humiliated us,” the three men said in a statement.
“Clearly, this was discrimination.”
The case brought by Alvin Jackson, Emmanuel Jean Joseph and Xavier Veal in the US District Court in New York is being funded by consumer advocacy group Public Citizen.
The airline said it was investigating the incident.
“We take all claims of discrimination very seriously and want our customers to have a positive experience when they choose to fly with us,” it said in a statement.
“Our teams are currently investigating the matter, as the claims do not reflect our core values or our purpose of caring for people.”
Before take-off on Flight 832 from Phoenix to New York City, the three plaintiffs who were not known to each were ordered off the plane with no explanation.
Court documents state that as the plaintiffs began to comply with the directive to deplane, they noticed that the only passengers who were being ordered off the plane were black men, and it appeared that every black man on the flight was being removed.
Once off the plane, an airline staff member told them they were ordered off because of a complaint about body odour.
“What happened to us was wrong,” the men said in a statement.
“Imagine a flight attendant ordering every white person off a plane because of a complaint about one white person.
“That would never happen but that is what happened to us.
“There is no explanation other than the colour of our skin.”
The court complaints said “plaintiffs were not told that they personally had body odour, and in fact none of the plaintiffs had offensive body odour”.
It said when plaintiffs pointed out that it looked like they had been singled out because they were black, at least one of the airline representatives said they agreed.
The passengers were then allegedly told they would all need to be re-booked on another flight.
But the airline reversed its decision when it became aware there were no more flights that evening to re-book them on.
According to the complaint, before the men reboarded, the pilot announced to the remaining passengers on the plane that the men had been removed because of a reported body odour complaint.
In the end the flight was delayed an hour.
The suit demanded the men seek “declaratory relief, just compensation for their pain and suffering, a punitive damage award sufficient to deter American from discriminating against black passengers in the future, and an award of attorneys’ fees and costs”.
When the men reboarded the plane, the complaint said they were forced to interact with a white male flight attendant who allegedly continued to behave in a “rude and discriminatory manner”.
The men said as a result, they experienced “profound feelings of embarrassment, humiliation, anxiety, anger and distress”.
A ‘documented history’
Lawyers for the plaintiffs alleged the incident follows other incidents of the airline “mistreating black travellers”.
“American Airlines’ treatment of the black men aboard Flight 832 — and countless other black passengers and passengers of colour over many years — cannot be tolerated. Jackson, Joseph, and Veal deserve justice,” attorney Michael Kirkpatrick said.
“This incident is consistent with a disturbing history of allegations that American Airlines discriminates against black passengers,” attorney Susan Huhta said.
“We look forward to getting these men justice and, hopefully, decreasing the likelihood that American Airlines ever does this to another black passenger.”
In 2017, the NAACP issued a travel advisory warning black passengers that they could be subjected to “disrespectful, discriminatory or unsafe conditions” if they fly on American Airlines.
Upon their arrival in New York, Mr Jackson was told there would be a representative from the airline inside the terminal they could speak with.
However, the complaint said this was not the case.