African woman and children kicked off United Airlines flight after white male passenger complained she was ‘pungent’, lawsuit claims
Lawsuit alleges United Airlines discriminated against an African passenger and her children during the incident on March 4, 2016 at George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston because they were black
An African woman and her children were kicked off a United Airlines flight after a fellow passenger complained that she had a “pungent” odour, according to a racial discrimination lawsuit filed against the company.
The incident involving the passenger, a white male, happened two years ago, when Queen Obioma, a Nigerian citizen, and her two children were boarding a flight from Houston to San Francisco.
The family had flown from Lagos, Nigeria, and were on the second leg of a three-flight journey to Ontario, Canada.
Obioma saw that the other passenger had sat in her assigned seat in the business-class cabin, according to the lawsuit, which was filed Friday in federal court in Houston.
The passenger refused to move, so a flight crew member, instead, asked Obioma to sit elsewhere in business class.
Later, before take-off, Obioma went to use the bathroom. On her way back to her seat, the same passenger was standing in the aisle and blocking her from getting to her seat, the lawsuit said.