CHARLOTTE, NC (WBTV) - A Delta airlines pilot refused to fly two Imams from Memphis to Charlotte in May, based on his beliefs about the religious leaders' appearance and religion, a civil suit against the company alleges.
Attorneys from the Council on American-Islamic Relations and United Firm of Carolina Law filed the lawsuit Monday in Shelby County, TN circuit court and names Masudur Rahman and Mohamed Zaghloul as the plaintiffs.
According to the document, Rahman and Zaghloul were flying to Charlotte to attend a conference combating anti-Muslim bigotry when they "came face-to-face with the discrimination they hoped to learn how to diminish."
At a Memphis airport in May, the suit claims the pair had successfully cleared through the TSA security checkpoint without any issues. While waiting at the gate, they were pulled to the side and told they were being subjected to a random secondary security check and search. Again, the suit claims, both men were cleared and allowed to board the plane.
After being seated aboard the plane, a Delta representative boarded the plane and asked the pair-- who were not seated together -- to provide identification to which they complied and were cleared again, attorney Mo Idlibby writes.
After the plane began to taxi the runway and prepare for takeoff, the pilot announced that the plane had to go back to the gate, the lawsuit reads. Once back at the gate, the pilot ordered the men to grab their bags and leave the plane, and were required to wait near the gate.
At the gate, the lawsuit says, TSA agents searched Rahman and Zaghloul's bags again and also conducted a body pat-down. After checking their ID's again, TSA agents cleared the men to board the plane again.
That's when a Delta supervisor told the men not to board the plane, Idlibby wrote. When the men asked why they were not being allowed on the plane, the lawsuit claims the Delta supervisor told them the pilot, "refused to articulate a reason."
"Atlantic Southeast and Delta oppose discrimination in any form from any source and our employees act at all times in the best interest of passenger safety and security," Senior Manager Eric Torbenson told WBTV in a statement on Monday. "We cannot comment further on pending litigation."
"Defendant Delta's supervisor explained that the Plaintiffs were entitled to board the plane after clearing the additional security screenings," the lawsuit claims.
The men pressed the supervisor to get a reason for the denial from the pilot directly.
"When Defendant Delta's supervisor returned, he was irate by Defendants' pilot's obstinate refusal to articulate a reason as to why the pilot was denying Plaintiff's boarding. The supervisor encapsulated his assessment of Defendants' pilot's actions in the following words: 'He is wrong.'"
Another high ranking employee also tried to get a reason from the pilot and returned 30 minutes later "visibly distraught," the lawsuit said. He said the pilot "indicated that he believed the mere presence and perception of the Plaintiffs on his plane would make other passengers feel uncomfortable."
"Defendants Delta's higher-ranking employee left the cockpit and made an announcement in the cabin of the airplane. He stated that if any of the passengers felt apprehensive about either of the Plaintiff's being on the flight, then those passengers could choose to depart later on a different plane, and in addition, they would received a generous voucher. Except for the pilot, however, no one else on the plane indicated that they were uncomfortable with either Plaintiff being on the flight."
"There has to be a reason tied to security. You can't just kick people off a flight due to their race national origin or religion," Attorney Mo Idlibi said in May.
Related article: Religious leader denied flight by American Airlines
The lawsuit said in its actions, Delta, in a supervisory role, discriminated, humiliated and slandered Rahman and Zaghloul. Idlibi was requesting a jury trial to seek compensatory and punitive damages in an amount to be announced at trial.
A previous statement released by the company immediately following the incident read, "Compensation and re-accommodation on the next available flight were immediately offered to the passenger and the passenger's travel companion. We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience that this may have caused."
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