American Airlines falsely accused a retired police officer of human trafficking his own wife during a flight from Phoenix to Miami and falsely imprisoned the pair based on the fact that the former member of law enforcement was Black American and his wife was White, a new lawsuit alleges.
The complaint is just the latest in a string of recent court cases accusing the Fort Worth-based carrier of racial profiling and racial discrimination and is yet another embarrassing blow for the embattled airline.
The latest lawsuit was filed earlier this month in a Miami district court by Anthony Williams, who was traveling with his Katsiaryna Shasholka on their honeymoon aboard American Airlines flight AA2408 on September 13, 2022.
The happy couple has provided photographic evidence of them smiling and looking relaxed as they leaned into one another aboard the American Airlines jet before another passenger falsely accused Anthony of human trafficking his newlywed.
On receipt of the complaint, however, flight attendants didn’t question the couple or conduct “any kind of investigation” but instead “falsely reported to law enforcement that Anthony was human trafficking his own wife.”
Upon landing, the couple were then “falsely imprisoned” by airline staffers before they were marched off the airplane by police.
Confused and embarrassed by the incident, Anthony and Katsiaryna say that they were not only humiliated but that they have been left suffering panic attacks, sleeplessness, and monetary losses as a result of what they went through.
The lawsuit highlights the plight of several other American Airlines passengers who were either falsely accused of human trafficking or racially profiled at the hands of the carrier’s employees.
Just over a year after Anthony was accused of trafficking his wife, musician David Harris, who played guitar in John Mayer’s band for 20 years, was accused of trafficking his own children. It’s alleged that a flight attendants raised concerns because David’s children are ‘biracial.’
In another incident, a 70-year-old retired African American judge claims a flight attendant ordered her to use the Economy Class bathroom because he didn’t like the way she closed the lavatory door and then manhandled her when she ignored his directive.
One of the most high-profile incidents, however, occurred in January 2024, when three unrelated Black men who had never met one another before were booted from an American Airlines flight in Phoenix over a false body odor complaint.
In the wake of the lawsuit, the NAACP threatened to issue a travel advisory warning Black passengers not to travel with American Airlines unless the carrier delivered a ‘swift and decisive response’ to the allegations.
Several weeks later, American Airlines terminated the employees involved in the incident, and several months later, the carrier told flight attendants that they would no longer have the power to remove passengers from a plane unless they posed a safety risk.
Allegations of human trafficking are, however, particularly tricky and have led to a slew of awkward incidents aboard several different US airlines. Interestingly, January marks human trafficking month, and flight attendants are being encouraged to report any concerns they have to law enforcement.
It should be noted that flight attendants are told not to question potential victims or perpetrators or to try to conduct their own investigation. Instead, they are meant to radio ahead to law enforcement, who will often question passengers on arrival.
