Black passengers sue American Airlines, alleging they were thrown off a plane because of false body odor complaint

A lawsuit filed Wednesday on behalf of three Black men alleges “blatant and egregious race discrimination” by American Airlines after being removed from a flight.

A lawsuit filed Wednesday on behalf of three Black men alleges “blatant and egregious race discrimination” by American Airlines after being removed from a flight. The suit alleges that the plaintiffs, Alvin Jackson, Emmanuel Jean Joseph, and Xavier Veal, and five other Black male passengers, were ejected from American Flight 832 from Phoenix to JFK on January 5, 2024, “without any valid reason, based solely on their race,” according to the complaint. An American Airlines representative approached each of the men prior to takeoff, the complaint said, ordering them off the plane. The passengers complied. “(O)nce 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 complaint reads. American representatives told the men a complaint about body odor had prompted their removal, according to the suit. None of the plaintiffs were told that they personally had body odor, “and in fact none of the Plaintiffs had offensive body odor,” it says. At least one American representative agreed with the plaintiffs when they suggested that they had been singled out because they were Black, the suit alleges.