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Imams' Suit Accuses
Delta And Atlantic Southeast Airlines Of Passenger Profiling By Shane Nolan |
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December 20, 2011 - The Council on American-Islamic
Relations (CAIR) and United Firm of Carolina Law (UFC
Law) have filed a lawsuit against Delta Air Lines and
Atlantic Southeast Airlines for removing two Islamic
religious leaders, or imams, from a flight to a
conference on Islamophobia in Charlotte, N.C., earlier
this year after the pilot refused to fly with them on
board.
CAIR and UFC Law attorneys announced the lawsuit at a news conference on Monday at Memphis International Airport in Tennessee. Interfaith leaders also took part in the news conference.
"Despite having been cleared twice by TSA agents,
Defendants' pilot took the matter into his own hands
when he chose to eject Plaintiffs from the flight based
on arbitrary and capricious reasons, including his
personal preconceived notions of race, religion, and
national origin."
According to the lawsuit, the defendants violated both a federal law preventing an air carrier from subjecting a passenger to "discrimination on the basis of race, color, national origin, religion, sex, or ancestry" and a Tennessee law that prohibits denying an individual the "full and equal enjoyment of the. . .advantages and accommodations of a place of public accommodation. . .on the grounds of race, creed, color, religion, sex, age, or national origin." |
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| The lawsuit seeks a permanent injunction that would prohibit the defendants from "singling out passengers for mistreatment based on their perceived race, color, ethnicity, religion, alienage, ancestry, and/or national origin" and order them to "take all affirmative steps necessary to remedy the effects of the illegal, discriminatory conduct described herein and to prevent similar occurrences in the future. | ||||
