Four New Yorkers claim they were kicked off flight for looking Muslim

Four men are suing an airlineafter they say they were ejected from a flight – for appearing too Muslim.

The New York Daily News reported that Shan Anand and Faimul Alampaid a $75 fee to switch their flight so they could fly with two unnamedfriends back to New York after a trip to Toronto in early December. When they got on the new flight, and switched seats with strangers so they could sit near each other,they say they were swiftly bounced by a white female flight attendant.

“I thought it was an evacuation or something, so I didn’t think nothing of it,” one of the mentold the Daily News, “but then she told me to take my bags, and when I went back into the plane I saw I was the only one standing.”

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The men told the Daily News that airline employees said their appearance made the flight crew uncomfortable.

CNN added that “three of the four men ejected from the flight are Muslim; another is Sikh. Three of the four are of South Asian descent and one is of Arab descent. All the men are U.S. citizens in their 20s and all four were sitting near the front of the plane, the lawsuit states.”

The flight in question was operated by Republic Airways, which partners with American Airlines.

“I hope this suit serves as a reminder that discrimination is not OK and never will be,” said the men’s lawyer, Tahanie Aboushi, in a statement to CNN. “Persons in authoritative positions, such as the defendants in this matter, should act based upon credible information and not ignorance.”

The men seek $9 million in damages, according to RT America.