American Airlines has been ordered to pay a Florida man who had been, apparently, mistaken as of Arab or Middle Eastern descent, $400,000 for racial profiling.
John Cerqueira, a Florida man of Portuguese descent, was awarded $400,000 after American Airlines kicked him off of a flight. He and his family were returning from a family visit in Boston when he and 2 other men were removed from the plane.
They were given no explanation for this action and were held for several ours before being released and given a refund for the flight--the Airline then refused to serve the men and they were forced to find their another way home.
"I have a feeling these kinds of incidents of racial profiling happen to people more often than we're aware of," said Cerqueira.
Cerqueira and his lawyer have successfully proved that the airline had removed him under false pretenses and that they did so only because they thought he was Arab. The airlines official excuse was that "certain aspects of [Cerqueira's] behavior..made other customers uncomfortable on board the aircraft."
No mention of what these actions were, but I guess taking a flight home with your wife and children is suspicious if you look Arab or Middle Eastern.
Cerqueira makes his career as a computer consultant--a job that requires him to fly all over the world for his business..since the incident, he says he doesn't feel comfortable flying on an airplane.
"I am certainly hoping that American Airlines will consider their policies and ensure there are proper checks and balances for situations not to get out of hand the way this situation did on that day," Cerqueira said
