JetBlue, TSA Agents Pay $240,000 in Civil Rights Settlement

By Evan Mix

Published on January 12, 2009

A pair of TSA agents and the airline JetBlue Airways will pay a total of $240,000 to settle a civil rights lawsuit with an Iraqi man. The man claimed he was prevented from boarding his flight until he covered up his T-shirt, which read, "We Will Not Be Silent," in both English and Arabic.

Raed Jarrar claimed that the TSA agents approached him before he boarded his flight, making several racially insensitive comments before purchasing a generic gray T-shirt for him to wear over the offending garment. The airplane's crew allegedly changed his seat without consulting him, forcing him to sit in the back where he could be monitored by flight attendants.

The defendants denied all wrongdoing, saying they simply wanted to settle the lawsuit, which had dragged on for more than two years. JetBlue released a statement saying it was pleased with the settlement, which was for only a small fraction of the amount initially sought by Jarrar.

Comment on this article →