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Three Black men have filed a lawsuit against American Airlines, alleging discrimination and unjust removal from a plane after a white flight attendant complained about an unidentified passenger’s body odor.
The lawsuit, filed in New York on Wednesday, concerns an incident that occurred on January 5. The plaintiffs, 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).
Shortly before takeoff, after the pilot announced an anticipated early arrival time, an American Airlines representative approached the three men individually and ordered them off the plane without explanation. According to the lawsuit, five other Black male passengers were also removed from the flight.
Video recordings of the incident show the plaintiffs demanding an explanation for their removal, as it appeared that every Black man on the flight was being asked to leave.
“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,” the plaintiffs stated. “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 indicate that an American Airlines representative eventually informed the plaintiffs and the other Black men that they would not be allowed to fly on Flight 832 and would need to be rebooked.
The lawsuit alleges that the reason given for their removal was a complaint from a white male flight attendant about an unidentified passenger’s body odor. However, none of the plaintiffs were ever accused of having an offensive body odor.
American Airlines initially offered to rebook their flight, but after an hour of trying, no alternative flights to New York were available that evening. The plaintiffs were then allowed to reboard the plane, causing the flight to be 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.”
American Airlines, headquartered in Fort Worth, released a statement on Wednesday in response to the lawsuit. “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 with American Airlines. The airline 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 another 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.”