Imams Removed From Air Flight File Civil Rights Suit

Six imams have filed suit against U.S. Airways and the Minnesota Metropolitan Airports Commission alleging that their removal from a flight in Minneapolis last November violated the Minnesota Human Rights Act, Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and various other federal and state laws. (See prior posting.) The plaintiffs' 39-page complaint (full text), alleging statutory and state tort law claims, says: "This civil rights lawsuit is brought to ensure that the promise of equal treatment embodied in federal and state anti-discrimination laws does not become a meaningless guarantee for persons perceived to be Muslim and/or Arab and/or Middle Eastern. Since the horrific events of September 11, 2001 our nation has witnessed an alarming rise in incidents of discrimination against Arabs and/or Muslims and against persons perceived to be Arab and/or Muslim." The filing of the lawsuit was announced in a press release issued by CAIR.