US DOT fines Lufthansa $4 million for antisemitic discrimination
October 16, 2024
The US Department of Transportation (DOT) has imposed its highest fine levied for discrimination to date, with Lufthansa fined $4 million for discriminating against 128 Jewish passengers in May 2022; something the carrier has consented to despite disagreeing with the Department’s conclusions.
According to the DOT, Jewish passengers travelling from New York through Frankfurt to Budapest in May 2022 were collectively discriminated against and denied boarding “for the alleged misbehaviour of a few,” despite not knowing each other or travelling together.
The passengers were attending an annual memorial event to honour an Orthodox rabbi, with a “significant majority” of the 128 affected individuals (predominately male) wearing the distinctive clothing of Orthodox Jewish men.
During the first leg of the journey (from John F. Kennedy airport to a stopover in Frankfurt), “the captain alerted Lufthansa security that some passengers were failing to follow crew instructions and were connecting to another flight to Budapest, although Lufthansa later failed to identify any one passenger who failed to follow crewmember instructions,” explained the DOT. These instructions included the requirement to wear a face mask during the flight and not assemble in the aisles, although passengers also later stated that they did not witness anyone failing to comply with crewmember instructions.
Lufthansa challenges this; telling the DOT that “certain flight attendants on LH 401 permitted and facilitated praying by small gatherings of passengers during the flight, which the carrier asserts underscores the Lufthansa crew’s lack of any discriminatory feelings”. Additionally, it believes that as many 60 passengers at any one time repeatedly disregarded safety instructions, with crew unable to identify specific culprits because “the infractions were so numerous, the misconduct continued for substantial portions of the flight and at different intervals, and the passengers changed seats during the flight”.
The security alert resulted in over 100 passengers’ tickets for the next leg of the journey (to Budapest) being placed on hold, with all of the affected individuals Jewish. Although Lufthansa staff recognised that the refusal to transport the entire group could impact those who had complied with previous crew instructions, they concluded “it was not practical to address each passenger individually,” continued the DOT.
Instead, with unaffected passengers called to board for the next flight to Budapest, “the remaining passengers waited in the gate area, confused and upset,” explained the DOT. The majority of individuals denied boarding were rebooked on other Lufthansa Group flights the same day, with some passengers making their own ongoing travel arrangements,
“Today’s action sends a clear message to the airline industry that we are prepared to investigate and take action whenever passengers’ civil rights are violated,” commented US Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigeg.
Lufthansa responded that it has zero tolerance for any form of religious or ethnic-based discrimination, including antisemitism; maintaining that it and the entire passenger airline group “have had a robust and fruitful relationship with Jewish communities around the world, especially in the United States”.
It added that although it “regrets and publicly apologised on numerous occasions for the circumstances surrounding the decision to deny boarding to the affected passengers,” it denied any suggestion that any of its employees had engaged in any form of discrimination; adding that the denied boarding incident “resulted from an unfortunate series of inaccurate communications, misinterpretations and misjudgements throughout the decision-making process”.
Lufthansa must now pay $2 million in civil penalties with the remaining $2 million being “credited for compensation Lufthansa paid to affected passengers in this matter beyond what which is required by law”. Lufthansa concluded that it will comply with the consent order to avoid the threat of litigation, “despite Lufthansa’s belief that the Department lacks jurisdiction over events that occurred outside the United States, and despite disagreeing with the Department’s conclusions”.
