In a damning allegation of racial discrimination, three African American men have filed a lawsuit against American Airlines, claiming that the airline unjustly removed them from a flight after receiving complaints about body odor. The men, who were not seated together and did not know each other, assert that on January 5, all black passengers on a flight from Phoenix, Arizona, to New York were evicted.

“American Airlines singled us out, embarrassed us, and humiliated us because we are black,” said the two men in a joint statement on Wednesday.

The Texas-based airline has stated that it is investigating the incident, as the allegations do not align with its values. However, the case has reignited discussions about racial profiling and discrimination in the United States, particularly in the aviation industry.

According to the federal lawsuit filed by the consumer advocacy group Public Citizen, Alvin Jackson, Emmanuel Jean Joseph, and Xavier Veal were seated and preparing to depart Phoenix when a flight attendant approached them and asked them to leave the plane. The men claim that upon leaving, they realized “every black person on the flight was being removed.”

All three men had traveled from Los Angeles earlier in the day without any issues. At the gate, an airline employee informed the men and five other passengers that they were being removed due to a complaint from a white male flight attendant about an unidentified passenger’s body odor.

“There is no other explanation besides the color of our skin,” the two men stated in their Wednesday statement, adding, “This is clearly racial discrimination.”

American Airlines employees attempted to rebook the passengers on other flights, but there were no other options to New York that evening. The group was ultimately allowed to reboard their original flight.

“We take all allegations of discrimination seriously and want our customers to have a positive experience when they choose to fly with us,” said American Airlines in a statement. “Our team is investigating this matter as these allegations do not reflect our core values or purpose of caring for people.”

The lawsuit also alleges that while the two men were waiting outside the plane, the pilot announced to passengers that the delay was due to a “body odor” issue. The plaintiffs claim that the claims about body odor were false.

“Throughout the flight—from the moment of reboarding, to every interaction with the white male flight attendant, until the plane landed—the plaintiffs experienced profound embarrassment, humiliation, anxiety, anger, and distress,” the lawsuit states. “After enduring an unwarranted delay, they returned to their seats, walking past predominantly white passengers, several of whom looked at them with angry and overly suspicious glances, compounding their humiliation.”

The lawsuit demands unspecified damages for the “trauma” suffered by the two passengers.

One of the plaintiffs, Joseph, told the BBC that the “alienating” experience reminded him of civil rights hero Rosa Parks, who was forced to move to the back of a bus in Alabama in 1955 due to state-sanctioned racial discrimination.

“It’s a strange and crazy story that we’re still experiencing this in 2024,” said Joseph. He added that the lawsuit is necessary to ensure that American Airlines does not “merely receive a slap on the wrist.”

In 2017, the civil rights organization NAACP issued a travel advisory warning African Americans to avoid flying American Airlines due to alleged discrimination. They lifted the advisory the following year after the airline announced changes to its operations. However, the recent incident highlights that the issue of racial profiling and discrimination remains a persistent challenge in the United States.