A flight attendant kicked four men, including two Bangladeshi nationals, off a recent Toronto-to-New York flight for looking too Muslim.
The four — Faimul Alam and another flier, whose identity could not be confirmed, are Bangladeshi Muslims, one is an Arab Muslim and Shah Anand a Sikh from India — were all ordered off the flight.
However, the other two had been identified by their initials as WH and MK.
According to a new $9m federal lawsuit, the appearance of the four Brooklyn men made the captain uneasy.
The four men were among six longtime pals who spent several days in Toronto this December
The four fliers from Brighton Beach were among six long-time pals who spent several days in Toronto this December, New York Daily News reported on January 18.
The report said the four had booked different flights home but they later decided to return on the same American Airlines flight which was scheduled to fly around 2pm.
Of them, Shah Anand and Faimul Alam, paid $75 to switch to the flight that their other two friends had booked.
WH and MK also changed their booking by paying $70 for an upgrade to business class.
They were assigned seats in the first and third row, respectively.
Shah Anand and Faimul switched seats with strangers after boarding, so they could sit next to each other.
Later, a white female flight attendant asked WH to get off the plane, said the lawsuit which was to be filed Monday in a Brooklyn Federal Court.
“I thought it was an evacuation or something, so I didn’t think nothing of it, but then she told me to take my bags, and when I went back into the plane I saw I was the only one standing,” WH, a fashion designer, told the Daily News in an exclusive interview.
The flight attendant then asked MK, who works as a construction worker, to leave.
Passengers surrounding Shah Anand and Faimul made racist comments and clutching their children “as if something was going to happen,” the suit charges.
“Then we were asked to get our belongings to get off the aircraft,” said Faimul Alam, a general contractor who runs his own construction company.
Faimul Alam, other Bangladeshi flier, the Arab Muslim and Anand were all ordered off the flight.
However, the other two — one Hispanic and the other, Pakistani — had fallen asleep and were not kicked off, they claim.
“They were told to ‘just be peaceful,’ making it seem like they were a threat, making other passengers uncomfortable and wanting to get off the flight,” said Tahanie Aboushi, who represents them.
When they got off the plane, a jittery agent from American Airlines told them they made the crew uncomfortable.
“She said the stewardess and the captain felt uneasy with us being on the flight,” W.H. said. “There were inconsistencies of our behaviour travelling as a group, because two of us upgraded and two of us didn’t.”
“They did not cite any basis of inappropriate or boisterous behaviour; their situation wasn’t a security issue or threat,” charged Aboushi. “It’s the plaintiffs’ position that the reason they were taken off the flight is because this is blatant discrimination.”
On the other hand, MK said he asked the agent if they were thrown off because of their appearance. Faimul Alam has a darker complexion while WH has a beard.
Anand was wearing a turban and a beard, in keeping with his Sikh tradition.
The agent said their appearance “did not help,” according to the suit.
The flight took off, leaving the four men behind.
The gate agent told them they had to wait to see whether the captain and crew of the next flight would agree to let them on board, they claim.
“They said it was protocol,” said Anand, who works as a personal banker.
The captain of the flight that Anand and Alam had originally booked agreed to take the four men to LaGuardia Airport.
They are each seeking $1m in compensatory damages and $5m in punitive damages.
Matt Miller, an American Airlines spokesman, said the company had yet to receive the lawsuit and could not comment.
Under federal guidelines, airlines are accorded the latitude to stipulate when flight captains may and may not refuse to transport a passenger. The pilot and flight crew in this case were contracted through Republic Airlines, a source said.
The men are also suing Republic Airlines and American Eagle, which were operating the plane under the banner of American Airlines. Republic and American Eagle could not immediately be reached for comment.
“I have travelled many times and never thought this would happen to me,” said W.H., who is reconsidering a trip to Amsterdam because of this experience. “It never crossed my mind that I would ever feel discriminated against. I felt like a criminal.”
Source: Dhaka Tribune
