Wed, Mar 03, 2004
Post 9/11 Treatment of Passengers Addressed
The Aviation
Enforcement Office of the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT)
has reached a settlement with American Airlines regarding its
post-Sept. 11, 2001, treatment of certain air travelers who were or
were perceived to be of Arab, Middle Eastern or South Asian descent
and/or Muslim. The settlement was approved by DOT Administrative
Law Judge (ALJ) Burton S. Kolko on Feb. 27. The settlement
will become final March 29 unless a petition for review is filed or
DOT takes review on its own initiative.
"Concerns about aviation security in the days following the Sept.
11, 2001 attacks do not justify illegal discrimination against
passengers," said U.S. Transportation Secretary Norman Y.
Mineta. "The Department of Transportation will continue to
investigate these kinds of allegations to assure all passengers in
our nation’s transportation system are treated fairly and
equally."
The settlement order finds that American acted in a manner
inconsistent with federal laws that prohibit discrimination and
requires American to provide civil rights training to its employees
over the next three years at a total cost of at least $1.5
million.
DOT’s Office of Aviation Enforcement and Proceedings
instituted an investigation of American for security-related civil
rights violations as a result of complaints from passengers
alleging that they were removed from American flights following the
Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks because of their perceived ethnic
and/or religious background. On April 25, 2003, the Enforcement
Office filed an enforcement complaint in which it charged American
with violating federal anti-discrimination laws. The case was
scheduled for a hearing before a department ALJ. As a result of the
settlement, the ALJ has canceled the hearing and terminated the
enforcement proceeding.
According to the terms
of the agreement, American Airlines, without admitting violations,
is ordered to cease and desist from future violations of federal
anti-discrimination statutes. American is also ordered to
provide civil rights training over the next three years to its
employees who come in contact with the public, in particular flight
and cabin crewmembers and passenger service representatives. In
addition, American has agreed to share its training materials with
DOT, which is developing its own technical assistance manual and
model training program to help air carriers ensure that their
employees understand how to avoid unlawful discrimination on the
basis of race, ethnicity, national origin, religion and sex.
This is the second settlement by the Enforcement Office
regarding discrimination against airline passengers due to race,
religion, national origin or ancestry. On Nov. 19, 2003, the
department issued a consent order reflecting a settlement with
United Airlines stemming from allegations that it had unlawfully
removed passengers from flights or prevented them from boarding in
violation of federal anti-discrimination laws. Documents relating
to the proposed settlement -- docket number OST-2003-15046 -- may
be obtained on the Internet.
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