Phoenix, AZ — Three Black men have filed a racial discrimination lawsuit against American Airlines, alleging an “alienating” experience reminiscent of Civil Rights hero Rosa Parks. The men claim they were briefly removed from a January 5th flight from Phoenix, Arizona, to New York after a complaint about body odour.
The men, who were not seated together and did not know each other, assert that every Black man was removed from the flight. “American Airlines singled us out for being Black, embarrassed us, and humiliated us,” the men said in a joint statement on Wednesday.
According to the BBC, American Airlines, headquartered in Texas, is investigating the matter as the allegations do not align with its values. A federal lawsuit filed by consumer advocacy group Public Citizen reveals that the men had already taken their seats when a white male flight attendant approached each of them and asked them to exit the plane.
Alvin Jackson, Emmanuel Jean Joseph, and Xavier Veal allege that, as they were leaving, they realized that “every Black man on the flight was being removed.”
Each of the men had flown from Los Angeles earlier that day without incident. At the flight gate, the three men, along with five others, were told by an airline agent that they had been “removed because a white male flight attendant had complained about an unidentified passenger’s body odour.”
“There is no explanation other than the color of our skin,” the men stated on Wednesday, adding: “Clearly this was racial discrimination.”
American Airlines employees tried to re-book the men on other flights, but there were no other services to New York that night. Ultimately, the group was allowed to re-take their seats on their original flight.
American Airlines stated: “We take all claims of discrimination very seriously and want our customers to have a positive experience when they choose to fly with us. Our teams are currently investigating the matter, as the claims do not reflect our core values or our purpose of caring for people.”
The lawsuit adds that while the men waited outside the plane, the pilot announced a delay due to an issue with “body odour.” The plaintiffs contend that this claim was false.
“Throughout the flight – from the moment of their reboarding, in each interaction with the white male flight attendant, and continuing until landing – Plaintiffs experienced profound feelings of embarrassment, humiliation, anxiety, anger, and distress,” the lawsuit states. “The act of returning to their seats after the unwarranted delay, navigating past the predominantly white passengers, several of whom eyed them with anger and undue suspicion, compounded their humiliation.”
The lawsuit demands unspecified damages for the “trauma” the men endured. Mr. Joseph, one of the plaintiffs, told the BBC that the “alienating” experience reminded him of Rosa Parks being forced to move to the back of a bus in 1955 due to racial discrimination.
“It’s a strange, crazy story that in 2024 we are still going through stuff like this,” said Mr. Joseph. He emphasized that the lawsuit is necessary to ensure that American Airlines does not receive “a slap on the wrist.”
In 2017, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) issued a travel advisory telling Black Americans to avoid American Airlines due to discrimination. The advisory was lifted the following year after the airline announced changes to its operations.
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