American authorities have fined Lufthansa a record $4 million for discriminating against more than 100 Jewish passengers, banned from boarding a flight in 2022, the US Department of Transportation said on Tuesday.
On May 3, 2022, these passengers from the United States were denied boarding during a stopover in Frankfurt due to a few’s failure to comply with rules such as wearing masks against COVID.
“Based on alleged bad behavior by some passengers, Lufthansa barred 128 Jewish passengers – most of them dressed in clothing typically worn by Orthodox Jewish men – from boarding a connecting flight in Germany », Notes the ministry in a press release.
Even though many of the passengers were traveling separately, the plaintiffs claim that Lufthansa “treated them as if they were all part of the same group and refused them boarding for the alleged behavior of a few,” further notes the ministry.
It was the captain of the first flight, between New York and Frankfurt, who reported to the company’s security teams that passengers were not following the crew’s instructions. The company then blocked these hundred passengers from boarding from Frankfurt to Budapest.
Lufthansa has never, in fact, formally identified any passengers who refused to follow the crew’s instructions, according to the Ministry of Transport.
The German airline assured in a press release that it had “fully cooperated” with the American authorities in this matter and had launched internal training “to deal with anti-Semitism and discrimination”.
More than 40 complaints have been sent to the US Department of Transportation in connection with this matter.
According to American authorities, the fine imposed on Lufthansa for civil rights violations is the heaviest ever imposed by the American Department of Transportation.
“We are prepared to investigate and take action whenever passengers’ civil rights are violated,” Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg added in the statement.
