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American Airlines settles lawsuit after Black men were removed from Phoenix flight

Three Black passengers sued the airline in May, charging that they were removed from the January flight to New York because of racial discrimination
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American Airlines has agreed to settle a lawsuit after three Black men were removed from a flight from Phoenix last year.

Details about the settlement have not been released but “include a commitment by American to take action to prevent discrimination in the future,” according to a media release about the settlement.

Three Black passengers sued the airline in May, charging that they were removed from the January flight from Phoenix to New York because of racial discrimination. They said they were told that a white flight attendant had complained about an unidentified passenger's body odor.

“The plaintiffs were not responsible for any odor, were not seated together, and did not know each other before the incident,” according to a statement from the Public Citizen Litigation Group and the Outten & Golden LLP law firm.

Earlier this year, American put an unspecified number of employees on leave for their involvement in the incident and the CEO called the incident “unacceptable.”

The employees responsible for the incident have since reportedly been terminated from the company.