American Airlines settles discrimination lawsuit involving 3 Black men removed from plane
American Airlines settled a federal race discrimination lawsuit on Thursday, Dec. 19 involving three Black men who were required to deboard a plane.
Alvin Jackson, Emmanuel Jean Joseph and Xavier Veal filed a lawsuit against the Fort Worth-based airline in a New York federal district court in May, Outten & Golden LLP siad in a news release.
In January they and five other Black men were ordered to deboard a flight from Phoenix to New York after a flight attendant complained about an unidentified passenger’s body odor, the news release stated.
The men did not know each other, they were not seated together and were not responsible for any odor, the release stated.
As the men began to deboard the plane, they noticed every Black man on the flight was also being removed, the lawsuit states.
Later an employee informed them that they would not be allowed to fly on the flight to New York and would need to be rebooked, according to the release.
The flight attendants responsible for their removal were terminated after the incident, the release stated.
According to the lawsuit the terms of the settlement are confidential but include a commitment by American to take action to prevent discrimination in the future.
“We are very pleased that American Airlines took our complaint seriously and we hope that this never happens to Black passengers or any other people of color again,” said the three plaintiffs, Alvin Jackson, Emmanuel Jean Joseph, and Xavier Veal. “Our goal in speaking out has always been to create change. We are proud that we used our voices to make a difference in the lives of Black Americans.”
“Corporations have a pressing responsibility to ensure that customers are not mistreated on account of race,” said Michael Kirkpatrick, an attorney at Public Citizen Litigation Group who represented the plaintiffs. “We appreciate that American Airlines treated this incident with the seriousness it deserves and agreed to correct course.”
“American Airlines’ commitment to take concrete actions to address discrimination is a significant departure from the way public companies have historically dealt with individual race discrimination claims,” said Susan Huhta, partner at Outten & Golden and counsel for the plaintiffs. “We are pleased to have reached a resolution that will allow these brave men to move forward with their heads held high.”
This story was originally published December 19, 2024 at 7:02 PM.