Now to this American Airlines is facing a lawsuit after
three men accused the airline of racial discrimination.
Now, according to the suit,
multiple blackmail passengers were removed from a flight in January.
The filing says an airline representative ordered each man off
the plane before takeoff due to a complaint about a
black
male's body odor. They weren't specific,
so the flight staff ordered 8 black men off the
flight.
The lawsuit filed by three of the men says the
incident was,
quote, traumatic, upsetting, scary, humiliating and degrading.
In a statement, American Airlines says it takes all claims
of discrimination seriously and is investigating.
Joining us to talk about it tonight,
pastor and journalist Dr. Ruth Allen Oleson,
avid traveler Victoria Andrews and etiquette expert Darian Lewis.
First of all, Doctor Ruth,
your thoughts on this case?
When someone is accused of
smelling bad, one person, but they tell all the black
males they got a description saying a black male smells
bad on this flight.
And so the flight staff
pulled 8 black males off.
Your thoughts on this? It's ridiculous.
It's it, it, it's reeks of
black while flying. We don't want to get to that
point.
And you know, if, if a person has Bo,
which I've had to deal with as a leader and
as a manager,
that's going to be one person,
a leader, a servant, a good manager
takes care of that, talks to that person,
even offers a solution for that.
But to do this to
the whole group of black men,
it's disturbing. It's extremely disturbing to me as a wife,
mother, grandmother, aunt, sister to black males.
Now it's my understanding once they made all of them
get off the plane,
deep plane,
they got off the plane to try and get another
flight.
They had to get back on the plane.
This is after the staff said
someone in that group smells bad
and so they have to get back on the plane
humiliated and everyone's looking at them,
probably smelling them. So Victoria,
you're an avid flyer, you travel a lot.
What would it be like to go through something like
that and your thoughts on this situation?
So as a flyer, and I've been on here talking
about being a person of size flying,
I do understand that when you're in a public space
and you're traveling with other people
that you will run into just some instances,
right? But my thing is,
is it's about respect. And there was no way to
know
apparently who was who had the body odor.
And it just, it was definitely
racially targeted. They didn't take anybody else off the plane
except these black men.
And so I think they are justified in pursuing what
they are because
as a person you already get on.
They were the only black men men on the flight.
Well, they were the only black people on the flight.
And so to already feel in a space that you're,
you know, singled out already,
but then for people to treat you like that is
unacceptable.
And you know, American has had it's
it's, it's it's issues. Just last week they said a
nine year old girl should have known there was a
recording device on her toilet seat.
And of course, then they fired the entire legal staff.
But several people have filed lawsuits against American in that
case where there was a video recording device by one
of the flight attendants
planted on one of their seats,
according to investigators. But they said the victim,
a nine year old girl should have known it was
there.
But then they came back and said that attorney has
been terminated.
Doesn't represent us. But Darren,
your thoughts on a flight staff being so damn stupid
to say something and to take that action in
2024? Yeah, well, they said one black guy smells bad,
so let's bring you all off.
Yeah, Right. That is dumb.
That is dumb. That's deplorable.
That is any lawsuit waiting to happen.
Absolutely. It's a violation of your constitutional right.
You know, we all have the right to life,
liberty and the pursuit of happiness,
correct? And what this does is this validates this idea,
this perception that's based on what people see,
what people think and what people assume about you.
It
it, it, it feeds into this narrative that if one
person is guilty,
then we're all guilty, which is so unfortunate.
But it's also the status of where we are as
a as a society today
for that employee to make that action and take that
stance,
He also should have been responsible and accountable to say,
no, not all of them.
It was this person. And that way we could have
addressed it one-on-one with that individual.
He could have been treated with dignity and respect.
He could have been allowed to rebook or whatever.
But to engraft everyone in that situation and embarrass everyone
that,
I mean, we all should be outraged,
not just as a black man,
but as a flyer. Any one of us could have
been subject to that kind of treatment.
And that's what makes me so upset is that,
you know, when injustice happens,
it's like what Doctor King says.
We don't tolerate injustice because injustice anywhere is a threat
to justice everywhere.
And really quick, Darren, since you're an etiquette expert,
there are individuals from other countries who just may not
wear deodorant.
And that may be an irritant to someone from America
and it may be something simple as that.
Do you think that's reason to report it to the
flight staff?
Absolutely not. Because they purchased the ticket.
They are a they are a paying customer.
And you must treat all customers with respect,
regardless of how that impacts you.
You have to treat everybody fairly because there are customs,
there are religious practices, there are all kinds of reasons
why a person may not have a pleasant body odor.
And that is actually subjective because what we consider to
be pleasant in other countries is very offensive.
So we have to always err on the side of
caution and use some diplomacy,
use some tact, use some timing and tone,
and address people with care and concern.
All right, we want to thank you all for joining
us here on The Factor Uncensored.
Just incredible story, unbelievable, but it is reality.