Three Black men have filed a federal lawsuit against American Airlines, alleging racial discrimination after they and five other Black male passengers were ordered off a flight in Phoenix, Arizona, on 5 January. The lawsuit, filed in the US district court for the eastern district of New York, claims the men were removed without explanation following a complaint about an unidentified passenger's body odor.
According to the lawsuit, Alvin Jackson, Emmanuel Jean Joseph, and Xavier Veal were individually approached by an airline representative before takeoff and asked to leave the plane. The men, who had never met and were seated separately, noticed that only Black men were being removed. A press statement said it appeared every Black man on the flight was ordered off.
After deboarding, the men were told they could not fly and would need to rebook. When they asked for an explanation, they were informed that a white male flight attendant had complained about body odor. The lawsuit notes that no one accused the plaintiffs of having offensive body odor. One airline representative allegedly said she did not disagree that the removal appeared racially targeted.
The men were eventually allowed to reboard after being told no other flights were available that evening, delaying the flight by over an hour. In a statement, the plaintiffs said, 'There is no explanation other than the colour of our skin. American Airlines singled us out for being Black, embarrassed us, and humiliated us. Clearly, this was discrimination.'
American Airlines responded, saying, 'We take all claims of discrimination very seriously... Our teams are currently investigating the matter, as the claims do not reflect our core values or our purpose of caring for people.'
