© Aaron Showalter/NY Daily NewsThe four men were among six longtime pals who spent several days in Toronto this December.
The four fliers from Brighton Beach were among six longtime pals who spent several days in Toronto this December.
They had originally booked different flights home, but later decided to return on the same 2 p.m. American Airlines flight.
Two of the pals, Shan Anand and Faimul Alam, paid $75 to switch to the flight that two others — who are comfortable being identified only by their initials, W.H. and M.K. — had already booked.
W.H. and M.K. also changed their booking before boarding, paying $70 for an upgrade to business class. They were assigned seats in the first and third row, respectively.
Anand and Alam said they switched seats with strangers after boarding, so they could sit next to each other.
Several minutes later, a white female flight attendant asked W.H. to get off the plane, the lawsuit, which will be filed Monday in Brooklyn Federal Court, alleges.
"I thought it was an evacuation or something, so I didn't think nothing of it, but then she told me to take my bags, and when I went back into the plane I saw I was the only one standing," W.H., a fashion designer, told the Daily News in an exclusive interview.
The flight attendant then asked M.K., who works as a construction worker, to leave.
Passengers surrounding Alam and Anand started making racist comments and clutching their children "as if something was going to happen," the suit charges.
"Then we were asked to get our belongings to get off the aircraft," said Alam, a general contractor who runs his own construction company.
The four — Alam and another flier are Bangladeshi Muslims, one is an Arab Muslim and Anand a Sikh from India — were all ordered off the flight.
The other two — one Hispanic and the other, Pakistani — had fallen asleep and were not kicked off, they claim.
"They were told to 'just be peaceful,' making it seem like they were a threat, making other passengers uncomfortable and wanting to get off the flight," said Tahanie Aboushi, who represents them.
When they got off the plane, a jittery agent from American Airlines told them they made the crew uncomfortable.
© Nam Y. Huh/APAmerican Airlines' first Boeing 787 Dreamliner, May 7, 2015.
"They didn't cite any basis of inappropriate or boisterous behavior; their situation wasn't a security issue or threat," charged Aboushi. "It's the plaintiffs' position that the reason they were taken off the flight is because this is blatant discrimination."
M.K. says he asked the agent if they were thrown off because of their appearance. Alam has a darker complexion. W.H. has a beard.
Anand wears a turban and a beard, in keeping with his Sikh tradition.
The agent said their appearance "did not help," according to the suit.
The flight took off, leaving the four men behind.
The gate agent told them they had to wait to see whether the captain and crew of the next flight would agree to let them on board, they claim.
"They said it was protocol," said Anand, who works as a personal banker.
The captain of the flight that Anand and Alam had originally booked agreed to take the four men to LaGuardia Airport.
They are each seeking $1 million in compensatory damages and $5 million in punitive damages.
Matt Miller, an American Airlines spokesman, said the company had yet to receive the lawsuit and could not comment.
Under federal guidelines, airlines are accorded the latitude to stipulate when flight captains may and may not refuse to transport a passenger. The pilot and flight crew in this case were contracted through Republic Airlines, a source said.
The men are also suing Republic Airlines and American Eagle, which were operating the plane under the banner of American Airlines. Republic and American Eagle could not immediately be reached for comment.
"I've traveled many times and never thought this would happen to me," said W.H., who is reconsidering a trip to Amsterdam because of this experience. "It never crossed my mind that I would ever feel discriminated against. I felt like a criminal."
Look in the mirror, all the vast majority of people want is to live in peace and without, fear to bring up there families the best way they know how and can afford.
Where do these terrorists come from, certainly not the general population. All the recent attacks in the 21st century (and well before that) point to well coordinated attacks on the rights and security of the individual. Restrictions in movement (what do you think airport security is about). The right to privacy, the right to free speech. All these are human values that as far as I am concerned are natural and legal rights.
Step by step those rights are no longer becoming valid. Why because the populations of the world are being systematically inculcated in fear. Day by day, year by year.
We will become nothing more than Pavlov's dogs trembling and quaking in fear. It's called Trans marginal inhibition.