|
Muslim woman sues Southwest Air for kicking her off plane
...after steward thought she said 'It's a go' on her phone.A Mohammedan woman is suing Southwest Airlines after she was thrown off a plane after the flight attendant thought she heard her say 'it's a go' on her cellphone. Irum Abbasi, a U.S. citizen who emigrated from Pakistain a decade ago, was seated on the plane ready to depart from San Diego for San Jose when she told her friend on the phone: 'I have to go.' Crew members became suspicious of her behaviour, mistaking her words for 'it's a go' and alerted the TSA. Ms Abbasi, who was wearing a hijab, was then escorted from the flight by a TSA official. Irum Abbasi, a graduate student in experimental psychology, believes she was discriminated against because she was wearing an Islamic headscarf. Civil liberties attorney James McElroy and representatives of the Council on American-Islamic Relations ... the Moslem Brüderbund's American arm ... , who filed the lawsuit on Ms Abbasi's behalf, have scheduled a news conference for today in San Diego to discuss the case. At the time, Mrs Abbasi said of the incident: 'I was in tears. I was just crying. I have lived in the United States for 10 years. I am a U.S. citizen.' She said that TSA agents patted down her headscarf but soon realised their mistake and did not even inspect her handbag or cellphone. But they refused to let her back on the plane because the crew was 'uncomfortable' with her presence, she was told. Afterwards, she said the verbal apology 'doesn't make me feel better. This time they said we weren't comfortable with the head scarf. Next time, they won't be comfortable with my accent or they won't be comfortable with my South Asian heritage.' Posted by: 2011-10-07 |
| http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=331184 |