3 Black Passengers File Lawsuit Against American Airlines for Racial Discrimination

Three Black men who were forced off an American Airlines plane recently sued the airline for racial discrimination. 

The lawsuit, filed on Wednesday by Public Citizen in a federal court in New York, states that the men were ordered to leave the airplane taking off from Phoenix after a flight attendant complained about their body odor. 

Five other Black men were also previously sent off board. The airline reportedly tried to book them for another flight. Once they saw that there was no other available flight bound for New York, the men were allowed to get back on the plane.

The three men who filed the latest lawsuit are highlighting the company’s racially discriminatory actions. The airline is reportedly now looking into their claims. 

“Imagine a flight attendant ordering every white person off a plane because of a complaint about one white person. That would never happen,” said the plaintiffs, Alvin Jackson, Xavier Veal and Emmanuel Jean Joseph, per a statement. “There is no explanation other than the color of our skin. American Airlines singled us out for being Black, embarrassed us, and humiliated us.”

The latest lawsuit comes nearly four years after American Airlines was previously sued for racial discrimination for removing four Black passengers from their plane. According to the lawsuit, Elgin Banks reportedly asked to move seats to provide more distance between himself and other people on the flight during what was then the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

After being told by flight attendants to wait until everyone had boarded the plane to change seats, Banks noticed that other white passengers were allowed to do so, although he himself was told to sit down and lower his voice when he asked to move up.

Although other plaintiffs alleged he didn’t raise his voice, Banks was forcefully removed from the plane by airport security. Four other passengers- three of whom were Black and one of which was white- were also removed from the plane after coming to his defense. 

According to the plaintiffs, following the incident, they were told that they would no longer be allowed to travel with the airline. Black plaintiffs were also not given hotel vouchers following the flight’s cancellation. 

Prior to both lawsuits, although it has since been lifted, the NAACP issued a travel advisory for the airline in October 2017. According to the organization, repeated claims of racial discrimination against the company indicated “a corporate culture of racial insensitivity and possible racial bias.” 

“All travelers must be guaranteed the right to travel without fear of threat, violence or harm,” said NAACP president Derrick Johnson in a statement. “The growing list of incidents suggesting racial bias reflects an unacceptable corporate culture and involves behavior that cannot be dismissed as normal or random.”