An elderly Jewish couple from the United States were taken off the flight because they refused to place the tefillin and tassel kits under the chair, on the grounds that this was forbidden as they were religious relics. They are now claiming compensation from American Airlines.
In August, Roberto and Elena Birman were on their way from Miami to their New York home on flight 322. At the time, before the plane took off, the “humiliating incident,” as the couple call it, occurred.
They took a handbag, a small briefcase and Roberto’s tallit bag with them on the plane. The two sat in aisle seats, side by side. Before taking off, the flight attendant began to check the upper storage compartments, pulled the tallit bag out of one of the compartments and asked “Whose is it?”.
According to the indictment, when Roberto replied that his bag, the flight attendant threw the tallit bag on his knees and claimed that he should place it under the seat. “The flight attendant insisted that we place the vagina under the seat. We explained to her that it was a sacred object and that it would harm its sanctity, but she insisted,” he said.
He added, “I told her I was an Orthodox Jew who was not allowed to put such a thing on the floor but she screamed at me and said it did not matter.” He even removed his visor cap, showing her that he was thinking of a kippah, while explaining that he was a religious Jew.
His wife went on to tell the New York Post, which reported the lawsuit: “The saddest thing is that none of the passengers came to our aid, said nothing. It was embarrassing. What are we criminals? My husband is devastated by this whole story.”
According to the couple, at one point the flight captain arrived at the scene, but did not contact the couple at all. Eventually, a ground crew member was called to the plane and begged them to get off the plane with him. As soon as they were off the plane, the couple says, the employee shouted at his colleagues “close the boarding gates.”
The couple said in the lawsuit they filed against the airline that they were left without medication, food or a place to sleep, and were forced to take a taxi to a friend’s house in Miami to sleep. The couple are claiming compensation for the psychological damage caused to them and the harm to their Judaism and for being thrown out of the flight rudely.
“My clients were taken off the flight due to prejudice and utter insensitivity on the part of American Airlines employees, for reasons unrelated to security,” said attorney Brad Gerstman, adding that “the stewardess and captain’s behavior was abusive and illogical.”
A spokesman for American Airlines said the airline is considering the lawsuit.