3 Black men sue American Airlines after being removed from a flight over body odor complaint

• Three Black men sued American Airlines, alleging racial discrimination on a January flight.
• The men were removed because of a body odor complaint from a white flight attendant.

A trio of Black men sued American Airlines on Wednesday, saying they faced racial discrimination on a flight in January.

Alvin Jackson, Emmanuel Jean Joseph, and Xavier Veal filed a lawsuit in federal court about their removal from and eventual reinstatement on the plane.

The three men, along with five other Black men, were flying from Phoenix to New York. None of them knew each other or were seated together.

Just before takeoff, they were individually ordered off the plane because of a complaint about body odor, an American Airlines representative told them, per the lawsuit.

Cellphone video from one of the men shows a man telling an American Airlines employee that they were taken off because of their skin color. She responds, "I do not disagree with you."

After an hour of waiting, during which American Airlines could not find later flights for the men, they were allowed to reboard.

They then had to "endure the stares of the largely white passengers who viewed them as the cause of the substantial delay," the complaint said.

The body odor complaint came from a white male flight attendant, the lawsuit said. One of the plaintiffs asked to be seated away from the flight attendant. Staff moved an Asian woman to first class and directed the man to her coach seat.

The other two plaintiffs were served by that unnamed flight attendant, who "continued to behave in a rude and discriminatory manner" during the flight.

American Airlines told one of the plaintiffs that he could speak with a representative inside the terminal after the flight landed in New York. After he disembarked, there were no employees available.

The trio of plaintiffs, represented by New York attorney Lindsay Goldbrum, are seeking a jury trial.

American Airlines did not respond to Business Insider's request for comment, sent outside normal working hours. The company did not file an immediate response to the lawsuit.

The company told NPR in a statement that it takes discrimination claims very seriously. "Our teams are currently investigating the matter, as the claims do not reflect our core values or our purpose of caring for people."

The lawsuit comes amid a series of high-profile incidents for American.

Last month, a former judge, who is Black, said she was racially discriminated against on a February flight. Seated in first class, she said a flight attendant made her use an economy-section bathroom and she alleged he falsely accused her of hitting him and threatened her with arrest.

And last year, two high-profile Black passengers — track star Sha'Carri Richardson and involving musician David Ryan Harris — were involved in disputes with the carrier.

In 2017, the NAACP issued a travel advisory, warning Black passengers of potential discriminatory and unsafe practices at American Airlines. The civil-rights organization lifted the warning the following year.