A mixed-race couple from Arizona is suing American Airlines after a flight attendant allegedly called the police over a passenger's bizarre claims that a black husband was sex-trafficking his white wife.
The newlyweds posed for a smiling selfie on a plane to their honeymoon in Miami in September 2022. According to CBS 5 Arizona.
However, former police officer Anthony Williams, 63, and his wife Kazialina Shashorka, 34, were accused of being busybodies who told flight attendants that they believed Williams was actually sex-trafficking brides. The fun was ruined by the passengers. The media reported that these were their words.
“There was no reason to believe that Mr. Shasholka was in any danger,” the federal complaint says. According to The Independent.
Crews called Miami-Dade police, who detained and questioned the bewildered couple.
“During landing, our customer was falsely confined and removed from the plane by an American Airlines employee. [and] “They were left waiting, confused and embarrassed, as other passengers exited the plane and passed them,” the complaint states.
The airline told the couple to file a complaint online after the incident, which Williams did. But he said nothing happened from that.
“There was nothing in our interactions during the flight that suggested anyone was being held against their will,” Williams told The Independent. “We were just the two of us having a good time.”
The experience caused the couple mental anguish, suffering, insomnia, paranoia, panic attacks, fear and anxiety, it said.
The couple is now seeking $75,000 in damages.
“My clients are former police officers,” said Jasmine Rand, a prominent civil rights attorney who filed the lawsuit on their behalf.
“He has spent his life fighting crime, and now to be accused of a crime as heinous as the trafficking of his own wife is unfathomable,” she continued. “He is committed to fighting for justice for himself and for those who have suffered racial discrimination at the hands of American Airlines.”
The company told The Independent in an email that it is “committed to providing a positive experience for everyone who uses us.”
“We are reviewing the complaint,” it said in a statement.
The complaint cites several other instances in which the airline mistreated black passengers, including professional guitarist David Ryan Harris, who trafficked his own child on a cross-country flight. It also includes an incident in September 2023 in which he was accused of committing a crime.
Harris, who has co-starred with John Mayer, Mariah Carey and Dave Matthews, was similarly questioned by police following a complaint from a flight attendant.
American Airlines later apologized for the serious error.
“American Airlines has done this before, and this shows they're doing it again,” said Ben Taylor, a civil rights attorney who is not involved in the case. said. “As a lawyer, I'm definitely negligent in this matter.”
“They assumed something was going on and assumed it was human trafficking without asking any questions,” he added.
“In our society, anyone can love and marry whoever they want,” he continued. “Just because you're a different race doesn't mean you should be stereotyped.”
“They need to be trained to clean up the culture at American Airlines.”
