The American Civil Liberties Union said Monday JetBlue Airways and the Transportation Security Administration paid $240,000 to a man who claimed he was discriminated against based on his ethnicity and Arabic writing on his T-shirt,” The Associated Press writes. The Washington Post says “the settlement paid Friday to Raed Jarrar, 30, of the District, ranks among the largest of its kind since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, according to the (ACLU), which represented him.”
Wired.com writes that according to the civil rights lawsuit, “TSA and JetBlue demanded Raed Jarrar to sit at the back of a 2006 flight from New York to Oakland because his shirt read ‘We Will Not Be Silent’ in English and Arabic. As Jarrar was waiting to board, TSA officials approached him and said he was required to remove his shirt because passengers were not comfortable with it, according to the lawsuit. The suit claimed one TSA official commented that the Arabic lettering was akin to wearing a T-shirt at a bank stating, ‘I am a robber.’ ” Both Jaunted.com and Newsradio WTMJ 620 AM of Milwaukee run photos of a T-shirt that presumably is similar to the one worn by Jarrar.
“The outcome of this case is a victory for free speech and a blow to the discriminatory practice of racial profiling,” Aden Fine, a lawyer with ACLU, is quoted as saying by AFP. Jarrar tells the San Jose Mercury News: “These are not isolated incidents — these are part of a systematic effort to single out Arabs and Muslims in the U.S. That systematic discrimination must end, and I think with this settlement … it sends a very clear message that what happened was wrong and should not be repeated.”
However, the Mercury News adds “that’s not how JetBlue sees it.” In a statement e-mailed to the Washington Post, JetBlue spokeswoman Alison Croyle says “JetBlue continues to deny, outright, every critical aspect of Mr. Jarrar’s version of events. JetBlue believes diversity adds great strength to our company; diversity among our crewmembers as well as our customers.” The Post adds “representatives of JetBlue and TSA employees … denied wrongdoing and said the case was settled to limit legal costs.”
Source: USA Today
By: Grey Area - 9th January 2009 at 14:53
Where would one acquire the mentioned t shirts?
I can’t remember where I got mine. Might have been Sywell. :p
By: Rlangham - 9th January 2009 at 14:02
Brings to mind the “Death to Spotters” t-shirts that appeared at one or two PFA Annual rallies………..thinks should I call my lawyer ?!!!!!!
Planemike
Where would one acquire the mentioned t shirts?
By: Student Pilot - 9th January 2009 at 10:05
I wonder what the lawyers cut was, $235,000? and another $3,500 for phone calls!
By: Arabella-Cox - 9th January 2009 at 09:08
Brings to mind the “Death to Spotters” t-shirts that appeared at one or two PFA Annual rallies………..thinks should I call my lawyer ?!!!!!!
Planemike
By: Grey Area - 8th January 2009 at 23:28
Such a blatantly provocative T-shirt on a flight?
I bet the guy wore it specialy in the hopes that something like that would happen.
If you think that’s a blatantly provocative t-shirt, you should have some of the ones that were about during the Punk era. :p
By: Rlangham - 8th January 2009 at 23:21
I seem to recall a certain member of this very forum – if you can think that far back – had a “Bomb Squad” T-Shirt that they wore at the airport… :rolleyes:
Wow, I bet they were a right laugh at parties :rolleyes:
By: Bmused55 - 8th January 2009 at 07:20
Such a blatantly provocative T-shirt on a flight?
I bet the guy wore it specialy in the hopes that something like that would happen.
By: Vicbitter - 8th January 2009 at 06:52
An apology and a couple of free tickets would be fair enough, $240,000 is madness 😡
now I think about it, that girl in Mcdonald’s looked at me funny, get me a lawyer, NOW 😀
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January 7, 2009 at 10:46 pm