Lufthansa fined for denying boarding to Jewish passengers
The U.S. Department of Transportation has issued a record $4 million fine against Lufthansa for engaging in discriminatory practices.
U.S. authorities have imposed a $4 million fine on the German airline Lufthansa. The penalty follows an incident where the airline denied over 100 Jewish passengers from boarding a connecting flight in Frankfurt.
Passengers refused connecting flight
According to Maroela Media, Lufthansa refused the passengers to board a connecting flight because some of them did not adhere to requests from crew members on the flight. The incident took place in May 2022. Many of them refused to wear masks due to the pandemic even though it was a requirement. The passengers, who had flown from New York to Frankfurt, were trying to board a connecting flight to Budapest.
Nearly all of the passengers wore garments generally worn by orthodox Jewish men. Lufthansa prohibited the passengers from boarding a connecting flight in Germany on the basis of alleged misbehaviour by some passengers.
Lufthansa received record fine
US authorities fined Lufthansa a record $4 million following the airline refusing 128 Jewish travellers from boarding a flight.
The US Department of Transportation said the fine was the largest fine ever imposed in a civil rights violation case.
“No one should face discrimination when they travel.”
US Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg
The carrier has disputed whether the US department has legal authority to enforce US laws for events that occurred in Germany. Even though Lufthansa did not agree with the department’s findings and questioned their authority, they decided to accept the consent order to steer clear of the legal battles that the department was threatening.
Did Lufthansa admit to discrimination?
The US Department of Transportation said that although many of the passengers did not know each other or were not traveling together, the airline treated them as if they were a single group and denied all of them boarding for the alleged in-flight misbehaviour of a few.
Lufthansa did not admit to any violations and denied that any of its employees discriminated against passengers. The airline said the incident ‘resulted from an unfortunate series of inaccurate communications, misinterpretations, and misjudgements throughout the decision-making process’.
Buttigieg stated that the fine given to Lufthansa sends a clear message to the airline industry that the US Department of Transportation is prepared to investigate and take action whenever passengers’ civil rights are violated.