A rabbi and his wife have sued airline JetBlue after staff were accused of being “antisemitic” when the couple requested switching seats for religious purposes.
Abraham and Miriam Lunger were removed from the flight after the rabbi informed flight crew he was an Orthodox Jew and able “unable to sit next to a woman unless she is a blood relative or his wife”.
The rabbi’s allocated seat was situated next to a female passenger and asked to be seated beside his wife or another male instead of an unknown woman.
A male passenger offered to sit next to Lunger to resolve the issue.
A male passenger offered to sit next to Lunger to resolve the issue.
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However, the captain said it would create a “weight imbalance”, the lawsuit has claimed.
The couple were named as plaintiffs in the case alongside fellow Orthodox Jew Brucha Ungar.
Ungar was travelling with them and was also removed from the flight following the incident.
JetBlue is named as the defendant along with a female flight attendant, who is referred to as Jane Doe.
The female flight attendant’s identity remains unknown during the lawsuit.
JetBlue was accused of “malicious [and] willful' religious and racial discrimination”.
In a statement, the airline added: “We do our best to accommodate our customers' various requests while ensuring all customers are provided the experience they are expecting from JetBlue. Due to pending litigation, we will not be commenting further.”
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Aircraft maintenance crew personnel guide an arriving JetBlue flight on the tarmac
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The flight, which included the Lungers and Ungar, was scheduled to fly from Palm Springs International Airport to JFK on December 31.
The complaint was filed in New York on February 27.
The complaint said: “Mr Lunger waited patiently in his seat to see if the seat next to him would be taken by a man or a woman.
“When a woman went to sit in seat 18B, Mr Lunger quietly got up from his seat and stood in the aisle in order to adhere to his religious beliefs and not sit next to a female passenger.”
It also alleged that “before Mr Lunger could ask someone to switch seats with him” the flight attendant identified as Jane Doe “yelled at Mr Lunger to go back to his seat”.
The complaint added: “At no time while Mr Lunger was trying to observe his religious beliefs, did he force, become loud, or use a stern voice to intimidate any other passengers into changing seats with him.”
The pilot was called to the incident and then “falsely told the plaintiffs that they could not change seats because it was a violation and it would cause a weight imbalance”.
JetBlue passengers stand in thin lines while waiting for normal flights to resume
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Passengers recorded audio of the confrontation on the flight.
The flight’s captain was heard saying: “[If you don't] get off the airplane, we will deplane the rest of the airplane and leave you three on here.”
He later added: “Right now the in-flight [crew] does not feel comfortable with you on the aircraft, which means I need to take you off the aircraft.”
A woman was heard responding by saying: “We did nothing, we asked a favour for religious purposes and everybody please respect our religion.
“What did we do? Did we shoot, did we do anything, did we touch anybody? Nothing.”
The lawsuit added: “Mortified and embarrassed, the plaintiffs exited the aircraft.
“The plaintiffs asked to get their suitcases but were told they could not.
“Once de-boarded, the plaintiffs spoke to the JetBlue ticket agent at the gate who informed them that JetBlue would not provide overnight accommodations, food or transportation.
“The plaintiffs had to call JetBlue to arrange for tickets for a return flight the following day, charging them for both the price change and ticket charge for same day change, and JetBlue claimed that plaintiffs never boarded their flight but rather missed the flight.”
The case alleges a civil rights violation, discrimination and harassment.
