American Airlines is facing another lawsuit alleging racial discrimination against its Black passengers. This time, an interracial couple from Arizona are suing the airline after a passenger allegedly assumed a white woman traveling with a Black man was a human trafficking victim, airline employees bought into his assumption, and the newlywed husband and wife were detained and “humiliated.” The complaint filed in U.S. District Court in Florida on Jan. 9 says that Anthony Williams, who is Black and a retired police officer, and his wife Katsiaryna Shasholka, who is white and a Russian national, were headed to their honeymoon on a flight from Phoenix to Miami in September of 2022 when they were racially profiled. Katsiaryna Shasholka, left, and Anthony Williams. (Credit: US District Court for the Southern District of Florida) During the flight, a passenger, Peter Salles, allegedly reported to American Airlines employees that he suspected Williams was trafficking Shasholka. Without questioning the couple or conducting any kind of investigation, the lawsuit claims, airline employees falsely reported the human trafficking charge to law enforcement. Upon landing, the couple were “falsely imprisoned” by airline employees who escorted them off the plane and made them wait, confused and embarrassed as other passengers deplaned and walked by them. Then they were detained and questioned by Miami-Dade police officers, the complaint says, noting that “the incident was captured on camera.” The lawsuit contends that American Airlines has a pattern and practice of racially profiling racial minorities, citing three recent incidents: In September of 2023, musician David Ryan Harris, who is Black, was accused by American employees of trafficking his own children. After a flight from Atlanta to Los Angeles, Harris and his two sons were met at the top of the jetway by an American Airlines employee and four police officers. A flight attendant had called ahead with some sort of concern that his biracial children were not his children because they were unresponsive during an interaction with her, the complaint says. American Airlines later apologized, saying their policies concerning human trafficking weren’t followed, that the flight attendant involved had received coaching and counseling on how to recognize human trafficking. Harris did not sue, but he posted the airlines’ apology on Instagram, commenting, “From the beginning, I didn’t (and still don’t) think that a slow or tentative response from a 7-year-old on an early morning flight should be enough criteria to have the authorities called.” Last January, several Black men traveling from Phoenix to New York were allegedly kicked off an American flight shortly after boarding because of a complaint about body odor. American settled a lawsuit filed by three of the Black men last month. American Airlines CEO Robert Isom, in a letter addressed to employees and obtained by NPR, called the incident “unacceptable” and said it “contradicts” the airlines values. “I am incredibly disappointed by what happened on that flight and the breakdown of our procedures,” Isom wrote. “We fell short of our commitments and failed our customers in this incident.” In February of 2024, Pamela Hill-Veal, a retired Illinois circuit judge who is Black, was traveling with her husband and elderly mother on a flight from Chicago to Phoenix. Hill-Veal said after her husband was asked to give up his seat by a flight attendant at the request of a white male passenger, and refused, she was accused of slamming the door to the first class restroom and told to use the restroom at the back of the plane. When she again used the first class restroom later in the flight, she said the flight attendant followed her to her seat, pointed his finger at her, touched her shoulder and threatened her with arrest. Upon landing, she was escorted off the plane and met by police, who declined to arrest her. The couple are seeking a jury trial to determine actual, compensatory and punitive damages in excess of $75,000 from American Airlines, the passenger Salles, the pilot of their flight, and other airline employees who detained them and reported Williams to police. They claim the false imprisonment, unlawful detention, racial discrimination and intentional infliction of emotional distress they endured “despite the total dearth of reasonable cause to suspect” they had committed any crime violated federal laws and caused them to experience mental pain and suffering, sleeplessness, anxiety, embarrassment and humiliation. The couple is being represented by civil rights attorney Jasmine Rand, who represented the families of Trayvon Martin, a Black teen killed by a white vigilante in Florida in 2012, and George Floyd, a Black man murdered by a white police officer in Minneapolis in 2020. “My client is a retired police officer. He spent his life fighting crime, and now to be accused of a crime so heinous as trafficking his own wife is unfathomable,” Rand told HuffPost in an email. “He is committed to fighting for justice for himself and for others that have suffered racial discrimination at the hands of American Airlines.” American Airlines has until Jan. 30 to file an answer to the complaint filed by Williams and Shasholka. In a brief statement to reporters this week, a spokesman for American Airlines said the carrier was reviewing the allegations in the complaint and that “American strives to provide a positive experience to everyone who travels with us.” The New York Times noted that in 2017 the NAACP issued an advisory to Black travelers about flying American, prompted by four reports of racial discrimination. The advisory was lifted nine months later after the airline committed to developing a council focused on diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI). Last June, the NAACP issued a statement criticizing the airline for backsliding into discriminatory conduct, noting that amid the recent resurgence of attacks on DEI, American had disbanded the panel in 2023. NAACP President & CEO Derrick Johnson said, “Recent discriminatory actions from company employees prove that there is a dire need for continued accountability and resolution to this clear pattern. We encourage American Airlines to come revive the advisory panel and reconvene with the NAACP to devise a path forward that ensures equitable experiences for all American Airlines customers. Without a swift and decisive response, the NAACP will be forced to reinstate an advisory against the airline.” Two weeks later, NPR reported that in his letter Isom had outlined steps that the airline would take to “strengthen diversity and inclusion” at the company, including: Creating an advisory group that will focus on improving the travel experience for Black customers, Reviewing and enhancing the company’s internal reporting process for cases involving allegations of discrimination or bias, Reevaluating its policies, practices, protocols and organization culture to recognize and identify areas for growth and improvement, And educating its employees to “recognize and address bias and discrimination.” Isom also wrote in his letter that he had spoken with Johnson about the civil rights organization’s concerns. Johnson told NPR that he was pleased to see that American has taken initial steps to “forge a path towards a more inclusive experience for all.” “While it is unfortunately common for Black consumers to experience racism and discrimination at the hands of corporations, it is not common to see such swift and decisive action,” Johnson said, adding that he hopes other corporations who may find themselves in similar situations will follow suit. ‘Unfathomable’: Black Man ‘Humiliated’ After Passenger Reports Him for Allegedly Trafficking His Own Wife on Honeymoon Flight and Being Detained Without Question Files Lawsuit