Alaska Airlines wrongfully removed two Black Muslim men from one of its flights in Washington state after a fellow passenger complained about one of the men sending a text message in Arabic, a recent federal lawsuit alleges.
, filed August 2 in the U.S. District Court for the District of Washington, claims the unnamed passenger who reported the men quickly stood up, grabbed his bag and exited the plane. An Alaska Airlines manager then deplaned Dirar and Elamin, after which the men were subjected to extra security checks and blocked from boarding a plane together on a re-booked flight. Airport security personnel also took Dirar's cellphone, the lawsuit alleges.
"Our greatest responsibility is to ensure that our flight operations are safe every day, and that includes complying with federal regulations on investigating any passenger safety reports," the airlines said in a statement to CBS MoneyWatch. Dirar said in a statement that he's suing in hopes that Alaska Airlines will never mistreat another Muslim American.
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