Three Black men are suing American Airlines, alleging discrimination and unfair removal from a plane after a white flight attendant complained about an unidentified passenger's body odor.
On Wednesday, a lawsuit was filed in New York concerning an incident on January 5. Alvin Jackson, Emmanuel Jean Joseph, and Xavier Veal, who did not know each other and were not seated together, boarded American Airlines Flight 832 from Phoenix (PHX) to New York (JFK).
Before the plane took off, and shortly after the pilot announced an anticipated early arrival time, an American Airlines representative approached the plaintiffs individually and ordered them off the plane without explanation, according to the lawsuit. In addition to the three plaintiffs, five other Black male passengers were removed from the plane.
Video recordings of the incident depicted the plaintiffs demanding an explanation for their removal, as it seemed that every Black man on the flight was being asked to leave.
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“What happened to us was wrong. Imagine a flight attendant ordering every white person off a plane because of a complaint about one white person," said the three plaintiffs, Alvin Jackson, Emmanuel Jean Joseph, and Xavier Veal, in a statement.
"That would never happen. But that is what happened to us. There is no explanation other than the color of our skin. American Airlines singled us out for being Black, embarrassed us, and humiliated us. Clearly, this was discrimination."
Court documents said that an American Airlines representative ultimately told the plaintiffs and the other Black men that they would not be allowed to fly on Flight 832 and would need to be rebooked.
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In the complaint, an American representative allegedly told the Black passengers they were taken off the flight because a white male flight attendant had complained about an unidentified passenger's body odor. The lawsuit said none of the plaintiffs, at any time, were accused of having an offensive body odor.
After American Airlines offered to rebook their flight, it became evident after an hour that there were no alternative flights to New York that evening, the lawsuit said. At that point, the passengers were allowed to reboard the plane, and the flight was delayed by over an hour.
“What happened to the plaintiffs strongly suggests that American Airlines racially profiled them," said Susan Huhta, partner at Outten & Golden and attorney for the plaintiffs.
"If American Airlines received a complaint about a Black male passenger with offensive body odor but could not verify the complaint, the solution should not have been to eject eight separate Black men from the plane. This incident is consistent with a disturbing history of allegations that American Airlines discriminates against Black passengers. We look forward to getting these men justice and, hopefully, decreasing the likelihood that American Airlines ever does this to another Black passenger.”
Fort Worth-based American Airlines released a statement on Wednesday after the filing.
"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."
In 2017, the NAACP issued a travel advisory warning Black passengers that they could face "disrespectful, discriminatory, or unsafe conditions" while flying on American Airlines. American Airlines vowed to make changes, and the civil rights group later retracted the advisory.
“This complaint follows other reported incidents of American Airlines mistreating Black travelers who are simply trying to reach their destinations,” said Michael Kirkpatrick, attorney at Public Citizen Litigation Group and attorney for the plaintiffs.
“American Airlines’ treatment of the Black men aboard Flight 832 — and countless other Black passengers and passengers of color over many years — cannot be tolerated. Jackson, Joseph, and Veal deserve justice.”
