Lawsuit against American Airlines claims Black passengers were asked to deboard flight

Lawsuit alleges airline representative approached three Black men individually and asked them to leave without explanation

Three Black men have filed a federal lawsuit against American Airlines for racial discrimination, alleging that the airline forced them to deboard a plane after a complaint that an unidentified passenger had body odor.

On Wednesday, lawyers of Alvin Jackson, Emmanuel Jean Joseph and Xavier Veal filed a lawsuit in the US district court for the eastern district of New York against the airline. The lawsuit follows a flight the men took on 5 January from Phoenix, Arizona to New York, New York.