A Black social worker is suing American Airlines, alleging airline employees suspected her of kidnapping a white toddler whom she was accompanying during a flight last fall.
Shannon Murphy, a social worker with Riverside County, California, said her civil rights were violated when she was pulled off a plane in October and airline employees took the baby she was caring for. The suit alleges violations of Murphy’s civil rights, false imprisonment, and negligence. It seeks unspecified punitive and exemplary damages, as well as compensation for past and future medical expenses. Murphy said she had been seeing a therapist since the incident and has suffered from insomnia and nightmares.
According to the lawsuit, which was filed in late June and first reported by The Mercury News, Murphy was escorting the toddler back from a court-mandated two-week visit with his father in Arkansas. While a passenger was waiting for the second leg of a flight to depart from Dallas-Fort Worth for Ontario International Airport near Los Angeles, they told a flight attendant that they suspected Murphy of holding a kidnap victim, the lawsuit alleges.
Per reports American Airline employees asked Murphy for her boarding pass, told her she needed to leave the plane with them, and took the child from her, she said.
Murphy said she had paperwork with her, including her work ID, the child’s birth certificate, and a signed copy of the court order for the trip. She tried to show it to the airline employees on the plane, but they insisted she come with them, she said. They eventually checked the paperwork and said there had been a mistake, according to Murphy.
In 2017, the NAACP issued a travel advisory against American Airlines based on other similar behavior.
American Airlines: More Bad News
This is the second recent issue for the Dallas based airline. Last week, American was hit by complaints by a sitting US Senator that they were not protecting passengers appropriaely from COVID19. They then seemed to violate their own standards allowing Sen. Ted Cruz to fly without a mask.