Summary: Four men were kicked off an American Airlines flight because they looked Muslim. Now they’re fighting back.
When a flight attendant demanded 23-year-old “W.H” to exit the plane, he assumed there was an emergency evacuation. As he left, he realized that there was no emergency. He later found out that he had been singled out because he looked Muslim, according to My Fox 8.
On Monday, W.H. filed a lawsuit against American Airlines with his three friends Shan Anand, Faimul Alam and “M.K.” The group was asked to exit their flight from Toronto to New York in December allegedly because of their appearance. Three of the men are Muslim, and one is Sikh.
The lawsuit states the men are of South Asian or Arab descent, and they were seated at the front of the plane. When they were being removed from the plane, they asked why and weren’t given a straight answer.
“It basically made me feel like a criminal,” W.H. said in a phone interview to CNN.
The lawsuit further stated that after the plane had left, an airline agent told the four men that they couldn’t board because the crew and captain didn’t feel comfortable with their presence. The group asked if their appearance, which included dark skin and beards, had anything to do with their unease, the agent confirmed that it “did not help.”
The group had two other friends, a Hispanic man and a Pakistani man, who were allowed to stay on the plane. They were seated in the back.
The four men are seeking damages because they felt they were discriminated against. They want $1 million in compensatory damages and $5 million in punitive damages.
The flight was operated by American Airlines’ partner, Republic Airlines.
Source: My Fox 8