You're a tad late to the party. The guys below helped change that when they sat down to eat at a Woolworth's lunch counter in Greensboro, North Carolina, in 1960. The rest, as they say, is history.
Posted on 01/16/2007 6:43:19 AM PST by Ellesu
A federal jury has ordered American Airlines to pay $400,000 to a computer consultant who was pulled from a flight at Logan International Airport because of security concerns, then denied reboarding even after he had been cleared by State Police. "I felt like I was being treated like a terrorist and there was no way I could prove I didn't do anything or say anything at all," said John Cerqueira , 39, who grew up in Fall River and now lives in Miami. "I'm grateful to the jury for sending the message to American Airlines that just the use of the word security isn't an excuse for unlawful behavior."
(Excerpt) Read more at boston.com ...
He didn't change his seat at the last minute. When he got to the airport early he asked the gate attendant if he could change his seat. She said it wouldn't be a problem.
Same goes the other way too, you get on a plane and blow it up, the surviving relatives just got awarded an airline. You sound like a card carrying member of the PC police.
Unless he was traveling with fellow employees or customers, I don't think his reputation was done much harm. He'll likely never see his fellow passengers again. On the flip side TSA is an unnecessary PC joke. There will never be another successful hijacking of an American airline again.
He is now afraid of being profiled and it has affected his business. This would be laughable if there weren't 12 idiots that just handed the jerk a blank check.
LOL. OK, the Captain screwed up. Show me anywhere in the article where it says the guy was remotely considered a threat except for the fact that the AIRLINE assigned him a seat next to 2 suspicious looking guys who happened to be Israeli.
You know, sometimes there really is a potential threat like those Imams on US Air but here there's nothing but a bunch of paranoiacs (yourself included). The Airline/Captain got what they deserved, a slap on the wrist for a multi billion dollar corporation.
A 2005 C6 should not be too bad a price now. :-)
You may want to think about getting a C6 instead of a C5.
Of course not.
However, this guy was detained by police and then refused a seat on a plane.
Here is an example for you:
You are trying to rent a car in a city where you don't live. The rental agency calls the cops and has you pulled out of the car and arrested (after they gave it to you in the first place) because you have red hair. Then refuses to let you have the car back after being cleared by the police even though you paid for the vehicle in advance.
Think that is ok?
Ridiculous judgments like this will affect your ticket price on any airline. The precedent set by the judgment will make it more attractive for lawyers and/or their clients to pass up smaller out of court settlements and go for full court action against any airline.
Good! Airlines need to know they cannot pull crap like this.
Absurd Justice!! What ever happened to reason??
400 grand is a drop in the bucket for AA. Should have been at least a mil. Then possibly the next time they would think twice before pulling such a stupid stunt.
Thanks for calling me a racist.
Interesting that suspecting all white people are racist isn't a racial prejudice.
Didn't know there were serious security concerns at the Walgreens in your picture.
It's okay if thousands die as long as we're being PC about it eh?
>What were the serious security concerns of American Airlines after the police completely cleared him?<
I have to trust that there was some reason authorities had.
>The reason AA still didn't let him on the plane was because it would make the other passengers feel uncomfortable.<
So do you agree with the "flying Imams"? Those six guys who got on the plane last Nov and began praising Osama bin Ladin openly, asked for seat belt extensions when they didn't need them and then changed to seats near the emergency exits? I mean, these Imams only crime was making people uncomfortable too. Should they have been allowed to stay on the plane?
>"That is exactly the parallel with the Woolworth's photo: these guys sat down at the "whites only" lunch counter and were refused service because it would make the white customers uncomfortable. You asked "what happened to the right to refuse service." These guys, along with Rosa Parks and a lot of other brave black and white Americans, helped bring about a little thing called the Civil Rights Act, which ensures that no one can be refused service at a public accommodation on account of race or national origin. That's what AA was doing, and a jury rightly found it guilty."<
Yeah that's it, it's all a racial thing. In the year 2007 we have no reason to be concerned about the people who come in to this country, who gets on planes, etc. We're just a racist nation filled with unaccepting white people who hate everyone who looks and thinks different from them.
And that itself isn't a racial slur, because you can't prejudge white people right? We know that racism is endemic only to those with pale skin.
Maybe I should put on some bed sheets and go to a civil rights rally. After all, I never said I was a member of the KKK.
I take issue with "because you have red hair". If a red haired man was in the news for stealing rental cars they would be right to take a second look. The red hair is not why they took him out, the fact a red haired man was being sought is.
Trying to make it about only the red hair turns it into a red herring (sorry but the pun fit) or a straw man because there is more to it. If one is not considering all relevant factors, one is not keeping it real. Indeed, one is being fake. It is like saying, a 6 foot tall white man just robbed
a C-store but the cops could not stop and talk to white men in the area that are 6 foot tall. It just dosn/t make sense.
Security, police, whatever you want to call them, have a job to do and the stakes are high, very high in the case of airplanes. ( sorry, the puns are just rolling off my fingers today) Would I be happy that I got a second look and that my schedule was impaired?
No, I wouldn't be happy about it. But I would understand that they are just trying to do their jobs. It is not like they beat the crap out me. It is not even as if they held me for days and weeks or months or years.
When checked in this manner I would seek to help them out with information they request rather than become obtuse about it and cause further needless problems. Helping them with their job will see to it that I am on my way sooner and it will also insure they can get on to their search without undue time spent on me.
I most certainly would not sue over this. Now, if they beat the crap out of me, and I didn't start it, I would agree with your position, I would own them.
You being of a race that can not claim discrimination, is in itself discrimination of the worst sort.
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