Three Black men have filed a lawsuit against American Airlines saying they were victims of “blatant and egregious racial discrimination” after being removed from a flight. Above, American Airlines planes are seen at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport in June 2018. Kiichiro Sato/AP hide caption Three Black men have filed a lawsuit against American Airlines alleging they were victims of “blatant and egregious racial discrimination” after being removed from a flight.
In a lawsuit filed in federal court Wednesday, the three plaintiffs — Alvin Jackson, Emmanuel Jean Joseph and Xavier Veal — say that they and five other Black male passengers were removed from an American Airlines flight from Phoenix to New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport in January “without any valid reason, based solely on their race.” The eight men did not know each other and were not seated together on the flight.
According to the lawsuit, an American Airlines representative approached each of the eight men and told them to leave the plane and return to the gate in order to be rebooked. “In fact, once they reached the jet bridge, they saw that several other Black men were also being removed from the plane. In fact, it appeared to Plaintiffs that American had ordered all of the Black male passengers on Flight 832 off the plane,” the lawsuit says.
Once all eight men were off the plane, they eventually discovered the reason behind their removal — an employee told the men so.
