American Airlines has been sued by three Black men who have alleged that they were racially discriminated against when they were removed from a flight. According to CNN, Alvin Jackson, Emmanuel Jean-Joseph and Xavier Veals, along with five other Black male passengers were ejected from Flight 832 over body odour complaint. The incident took place on January 5, 2024, and the flight was on its way from Phoenix to JFK Airport in New York, CNN further said in its report.
The complainants have claimed in the lawsuit that they were ejected “without any valid reason, based solely on their race”.
When the American Airlines staffer approached them before take-off, ordering them to get off the plane, the men complied.
“Once they reached the jet bridge, they saw that several other Black men were also being removed from the plane. In fact, it appeared to Plaintiffs that American had ordered all of the Black male passengers on Flight 832 off the plane,” according to the complaint.
They were later told about the body odour complaint but they were never personally told about it, “and in fact none of the Plaintiffs had offensive body odour,” they said in the complaint, as per CNN.
Two of the plaintiffs – Alvin Jackson, Emmanuel Jean-Joseph – spoke to NBC News and said they felt singled out for being Black.
“Being grouped and removed hits all these trigger points of things that I don’t think should happen to Black people anymore,” said Jackson, 27.
Mr Jean-Joseph said they were made to look like criminals as they walked down the aisle of the plane. “It still affects me. When I do get on a plane again, it’s going to be something that haunts me.”
In a statement, American Airlines said it was investigating the incident and that the “claims do not reflect our core values or our purpose of caring for people”.
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