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Video central to the lawsuit displayed a group of Black men who were not traveling together and did not know each other being removed from the flight. According to the suit, they were the only Black passengers on the flight.
Emmanuel Jean Joseph, Alvin Jackson and Xavier Veal — the three plaintiffs— were on a connecting flight from Los Angeles. The three allege that at no point throughout the other flight did any employee from American Airlines say anything to them about an offensive odor.
Jean Joseph told CBS News senior transportation correspondent Kris Van Cleave that as he gathered his belongings and walked to the jet bridge, he noticed that only Black men were being removed from the flight.
3 Black passengers sue American Airlines after alleging racial discrimination following odor complaint
The lawsuit, filed Wednesday in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York, claims that as American Airlines Flight 832 from Phoenix to New York was boarding in January, American Airlines employees removed eight Black men from the plane allegedly over a complaint about "offensive body odor."
Video central to the lawsuit displayed a group of Black men who were not traveling together and did not know each other being removed from the flight. According to the suit, they were the only Black passengers on the flight.
Emmanuel Jean Joseph, Alvin Jackson and Xavier Veal — the three plaintiffs— were on a connecting flight from Los Angeles. The three allege that at no point throughout the other flight did any employee from American Airlines say anything to them about an offensive odor.
Jean Joseph told CBS News senior transportation correspondent Kris Van Cleave that as he gathered his belongings and walked to the jet bridge, he noticed that only Black men were being removed from the flight.
