3 Black Passengers Sue American Airlines for Discrimination After Being Kicked From Flight Over Alleged Body Odor Complaint

Three black men have filed a federal lawsuit against American Airlines, claiming employees kicked them off a flight because of a complaint about body odor.

According to court documents obtained by PEOPLE, plaintiffs Alvin Jackson, Emmanuel Jean Joseph and Xavier Veal were traveling from Phoenix to New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport on January 5, 2024, when they were allegedly kicked off Flight 832, ” without any valid reason, based solely on their race.

The complaint, filed Wednesday, May 29 in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York, claims that American Airlines “engaged in blatant and egregious racial discrimination” when its employees fired Jackson, Joseph and Veal, as well as than five others. Black male passengers on the plane. The men did not travel together and did not know each other.

American Airlines told PEOPLE in a statement: “We take all allegations of discrimination very seriously and want our customers to have a positive experience when they choose to travel with us. Our teams are currently investigating the matter, as these allegations do not reflect our core values ​​or our desire to care for people.

The lawsuit says that before takeoff, an airline representative approached each plaintiff and “ordered them to get off the plane immediately, without explanation.”

According to the suit, each of the plaintiffs complied, and it was once they arrived at the jet bridge that they realized that “several other black men were also being removed from the aircraft.”

“In fact, it appeared to plaintiffs that American had ordered all black passengers of Flight 832 off the plane,” the complaint reads.

When the eight men asked airline employees for an explanation, they were reportedly told that they had been removed from the plane “due to a complaint about body odor.”

“Plaintiffs were not informed that they personally had body odor and, in fact, none of the plaintiffs had any unpleasant body odor,” the lawsuit states. “When the plaintiffs pointed out that they appeared to have been singled out because they were black, at least one of the U.S. representatives present at the time said, 'I agree.' I agree. » The exchange was filmed.

The complainants were allegedly informed that they and the five other passengers would be rebooked on another flight. However, after about an hour, airline staff reportedly told them that since there were no other flights available that evening, they could reboard their original plane.

The suit claims the plaintiffs had to “endure the stares” from other passengers, who viewed them as the “cause of the significant delay.”

“They suffered throughout the entire flight home, and the entire incident was traumatic, upsetting, frightening, humiliating and degrading,” the filing states.

The lawsuit also accuses American Airlines of having “a documented history of frequently subjecting Black passengers (and other passengers of color) to differential treatment and intolerance,” citing a 2017 NAACP travel advisory against the airline, which was lifted the following year.

All three men are seeking compensatory damages, the amount of which will be determined during a jury trial.

The attorney representing the plaintiffs, Sue Huhta, a partner at Outten & Golden, told CBS News that it seems “pretty obvious that race was part of this dynamic.”

“It is almost inconceivable to find an explanation for this other than the color of their skin, especially since they did not know each other and were not sitting next to each other,” Huhta said .

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Jackson and Joseph spoke about their experience in an interview with NBC News.

“Being lumped together and removed hits all these trigger points of things that I don't think should happen to black people anymore,” Jackson said.

Joseph, who said he hasn't flown since the incident, told NBC News: “It still affects me.” »

He added: “When I fly again, it will be something that haunts me. »