Southwest can be sued for bumping passenger who spoke Arabic - U.S. judge

By Jonathan Stempel

 

FILE PHOTO: A Southwest Airlines Boeing 737-800 plane is seen at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) in the Greater Los Angeles Area, California, U.S., April 10, 2017. REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson

 

(Reuters) - A federal judge on Thursday rejected Southwest Airlines Co's <LUV.N> bid to dismiss a discrimination lawsuit by an American of Iraqi descent who was removed from a 2016 flight after another passenger heard him speak in Arabic and feared he might be a terrorist.

 

U.S. Magistrate Judge Donna Ryu in Oakland, California, said Khairuldeen Makhzoomi could try to show that "Islamophobia," coming amid a "sensitive political climate," was a factor behind his removal, and that Southwest's claim he was removed because he appeared to make threats was pretextual.

 

Ryu said Makhzoomi could seek damages from Southwest for alleged violations of federal and California civil rights laws, but dismissed claims of negligence and intentional infliction of emotional distress.

 

The Dallas-based carrier had argued there was "at most a scintilla of evidence" suggesting racial animus, and said its employees acted reasonably in considering Makhzoomi a possible safety threat.

 

Southwest did not immediately respond to requests for comment. One of its lawyers declined to comment.

 

"The case is moving forward, and we look forward to trial," said Zahra Billoo, a lawyer for Makhzoomi. A trial is scheduled for Feb. 3, 2020.

 

The incident occurred on an April 6, 2016, Southwest flight awaiting takeoff to Oakland from Los Angeles.

 

Makhzoomi, then a 26-year-old public policy student at the University of California, Berkeley, had been talking with his uncle by cellphone after attending a dinner featuring United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon.

 

Two police officers and Southwest customer service manager Shoaib Ahmed removed Makhzoomi from the plane after a woman who had been seated nearby became agitated, and reported having heard him use words associated with suicide martyrdom.

 

"I would say the fact that 'American' was said next to it, and I'm on a plane, I wasn't sure what to make of it," the woman, her name shielded by a pseudonym, said in a deposition.

 

Makhzoomi, a U.S. citizen who arrived in the country as an Iraqi refugee, denied making threatening statements, and denied Ahmed's claim that he had used the words bomb, ISIS, jihad and martyrdom on the plane.

 

Southwest's lawyers also represent Ahmed.

 

Makhzoomi was questioned by local law enforcement and the FBI before flying home on Delta Air Lines <DAL.N>, after Southwest decided not to rebook him and instead refunded his ticket, court papers show.

 

The case is Makhzoomi v Southwest Airlines Co et al, U.S. District Court, Northern District of California, No. 18-00924.

 

(This story was corrected in second paragraph, corrects title to magistrate judge, not district judge)

 

(Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York; Editing by Bill Berkrot)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2019-12-20

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Does this make me feel safer re flight operations in the US?

 

No! on the contrary, makes me feel  unsafe. Players don't have a sound grip of reality,

and demonstrates bad judgement.

 

Dangerous / unsafe airline that is.

 

 

He got a refund.  No big deal.

 

If you think that's bad, trying getting on a flight in Oakland wearing a MAGA hat.

Understandable. after all it is the Arabic speakers behind most of the worlds terrorism and that was the language of the 9/11 hijackers, better safe than sorry.

1 hour ago, Orton Rd said:

Understandable. after all it is the Arabic speakers behind most of the worlds terrorism and that was the language of the 9/11 hijackers, better safe than sorry.

This is in the US. Remind me the cause of most attacks are in the US.

1 hour ago, Kelsall said:

He got a refund.  No big deal.

 

If you think that's bad, trying getting on a flight in Oakland wearing a MAGA hat.

How nice of them.

 

See how you feel if declined something you have paid for because of race, religion etc.

1 minute ago, Sujo said:

If it was in arabic how would they know it was a threat.

 

The standard would be, if a white person said the same thing would they be treated the same.

 ever heard of recording?

 and playing back for an Interpreter to do his job?

1 minute ago, tifino said:

 ever heard of recording?

 and playing back for an Interpreter to do his job?

Sure. So they stop all non english speakers from boarding until they can find interpreters before allowing them to board.

 

May delay flights a little.

Years ago a group of Muslim clerics entered a plane simultaneously.  Though they were traveling together they had seats dispersed throughout the plane and they began to pray loudly alarming the passengers.  They were trying to instigate an incident so they could sue.  If the authorities used available information on each passenger to screen them before security you would know who to be wary of and who was ok.  I traveled to Israel some years ago.  I can assure you they knew everything about who I was, where I lived, what I did for a living, long before I boarded the plane. 

7 hours ago, webfact said:

A federal judge on Thursday rejected Southwest Airlines Co's <LUV.N> bid to dismiss a discrimination lawsuit by an American of Iraqi descent who was removed from a 2016 flight after another passenger heard him speak in Arabic

Excellent decision. 

An offensive post has been reported and removed.

 

A nonsensical post and the replies were removed. 

1 hour ago, Thomas J said:

Years ago a group of Muslim clerics entered a plane simultaneously.  Though they were traveling together they had seats dispersed throughout the plane and they began to pray loudly alarming the passengers.  They were trying to instigate an incident so they could sue.  If the authorities used available information on each passenger to screen them before security you would know who to be wary of and who was ok.  I traveled to Israel some years ago.  I can assure you they knew everything about who I was, where I lived, what I did for a living, long before I boarded the plane. 

Your report of the incident is one sided, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flying_imams_incident.

14 minutes ago, stevenl said:

Your report of the incident is one sided, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flying_imams_incident.

The imams retained the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) as their legal counsel.^[3] Nihad Awad, executive director of CAIR, sent a letter to the airline seeking a settlement agreement and said, "otherwise, the group is prepared to go to court."

3 hours ago, Kelsall said:

He got a refund.  No big deal.

 

If you think that's bad, trying getting on a flight in Oakland wearing a MAGA hat.

Did they feel your insufficiently able to make decisions of sound nature, and you were a danger to yourself?

 

5 minutes ago, Chazar said:

The imams retained the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) as their legal counsel.^[3] Nihad Awad, executive director of CAIR, sent a letter to the airline seeking a settlement agreement and said, "otherwise, the group is prepared to go to court."

Which does not justify " hey were trying to instigate an incident so they could sue.  ".

An offensive troll post has been reported and removed. 

8 hours ago, stevenl said:

Your report of the incident is one sided, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flying_imams_incident.

I don't remember exactly what year it was, but I was flying out of Phoenix.  On the plane were a large number of Muslim clerics.   There had been some sort of convention or meeting.   While our plane was sitting on the tarmac -- I think we were having a slight delay -- one of the Clerics gets out his prayer rug, rolls it out on the aisle and proceeds to pray.   None of the other clerics did or said anything, but for the next few minutes, every passenger on the plane was very quiet.  

 

I don't remember an airline staff stopping him or saying anything, although they might have.   At any rate, he put his prayer mat back in the overhead bin when he finished and sat down.   We left and arrived safely at our destination.   It was the absolutely quietest flight I've ever been on!   Not a peep.