Alvin Jackson, Emmanuel Jean Joseph and Xavier Veal filed a federal lawsuit Wednesday against American Airlines, claiming they were taken off their flight because a white passenger complained of smelling foul body odor.
The discrimination began when the men boarded a New York City-bound flight in Phoenix on Jan. 5th. One of the American Airlines employees asked eight passengers, who were all Black men, to exit the plane, according to the lawsuit.
The three plaintiffs said they were not seated together and do not know eachother, according to the lawsuit. During an interview, Jackson and Jean-Joseph said they felt singled out for being Black and were humiliated by the what happened. “Being grouped and removed hits all these trigger points of things that I don’t think should happen to Black people anymore,” Jackson, 27, said.
Jean-Joseph said that allegedly the men were made out to be criminals as they walked them off of their flight. He said he has not flown since the incident and that he broke down as he re-lived it Wednesday, when the lawsuit was filed. “It still affects me,” he said. “When I do get on a plane again, it’s going to be something that haunts me.”
The eight men were able to reboard their original flight almost an hour later, after complaining about the alleged discrimination and after the airline could not book them on a later flight, according to the lawsuit, which was filed in the Eastern District of New York. The plaintiffs are seeking awards of compensatory damages to be determined in a jury trial.
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.” “We take all claims of discrimination very seriously and want our customers to have a positive experience when they choose to fly with us,” the company said.
According to the lawsuit, American Airlines has a history of discrimination that is documented about them mistreating black passengers. A 2017 NAACP travel advisory warning was issued for black passengers stating that “their safety could be compromised if they flew American Airlines”, referencing a series of “troublesome conduct” by employees at the time.
At the time, then-CEO Doug Parker said the company does not “tolerate discrimination of any kind” and said American Airlines had reached out to the NAACP to discuss concerns.
