American Airlines said on Thursday that it had settled a racial discrimination lawsuit filed by three Black men who said they and several others had been wrongly and temporarily removed from a flight in January by the airline’s flight attendants.
In a federal lawsuit filed in May, the men said they did not know one another and were not seated together, but they were removed from their plane after a white flight attendant complained about an unidentified passenger’s body odor. They said they were allowed back on the plane after waiting an hour at an airport gate in Phoenix, before departing for New York.
Neither American nor the nonprofit group that represented the men would divulge details of the settlement. But the airline has since fired the flight attendants involved in the incident.
“We are very pleased that American Airlines took our complaint seriously and we hope that this never happens to Black passengers or any other people of color again,” the three plaintiffs, Alvin Jackson, Emmanuel Jean Joseph and Xavier Veal, said in a statement provided by the Public Citizen Litigation Group, a nonprofit consumer organization that represented them alongside the law firm Outten & Golden.
“Our goal in speaking out has always been to create change,” the men said. “We are proud that we used our voices to make a difference in the lives of Black Americans.”
In a statement, American said the company strove to provide a “welcoming and inclusive environment” for its customers. “The agreement allows all parties to move forward and focus on what matters most — ensuring a safe and inclusive travel experience for every customer,” the airline said.
American has faced other accusations of racism. In 2017, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People warned Black travelers about the airline, citing what it described as examples of discriminatory behavior. The group dropped that warning nine months later, saying that American had started to address its concerns.
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