Remember that video from the beginning of the year where three Black men were being rudely escorted off a plane for some “odor?” Well, we finally know how this whole ordeal was concluded after those passengers decided to file a lawsuit.
In a viral video from January, Alvin Jackson, Emmanuel Jean Joseph, Xavier Veal and five other Black men were seen being walked off an American Airlines flight. Their lawsuit claimed their travel from Phoenix to John F. Kennedy International Airport was halted when a white male flight attendant reported them to have an “offensive body odor.”
“This is crazy. Y’all just took like eight Black people off the plane... Yo, I paid for the flight just like everybody else. So, we don’t have a right to be on this flight?” said Veal behind the camera. The flight attendant then ordered the group to exit the jet bridge and ask their questions to the staff in the airport.
The lawsuit says the men were held for an hour in the jetway before being escorted back to the gate and advised they would be rebooked to another flight. However, when the gate agents failed to find them another New York-bound flight that day, they were put right back on the same plane.
The men, some of whom didn’t even know each other, filed a lawsuit claiming they were removed from the flight “without any valid reason, based solely on their race.” According to CNN’s report, American Airlines settled the suit with the three plaintiffs for undisclosed terms but “allows all parties to move forward,” the airline said. Though, American did promise to commit to preventing further discrimination in the future.
“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,” said the three men, Alvin Jackson, Emmanuel Jean Joseph and Xavier Veal, in a joint statement. “Our goal in speaking out has always been to create change. We are proud that we used our voices to make a difference in the lives of Black Americans.”
Oh! And the lil’ flight attendants behind the passengers’ removal have since been fired, the report says.