‘A Clear Message’: Airline Slapped With $4 Million Fine For Stopping Hundreds Of Jews From Boarding Flight

The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) fined German airline Lufthansa $4 million for stopping hundreds of Jewish passengers from making a connecting flight, according to a Tuesday DOT press release.

Following alleged misconduct from some passengers, Lufthansa prohibited 128 Jewishpassengers from boarding their connecting flight, most of whom were wearing “distinctive garb typically worn by Orthodox Jewish men,” the press release stated. However, many of the passengers were not traveling together and did not know each other, leading the DOT to issue the penalty — the largest the agency has ever issued against an airline for a civil rights violation.

“Most passengers who were interviewed by stated that Lufthansa treated them all as if they were a single group, and denied boarding onto to everyone for the apparent misbehavior of a few, because they were openly and visibly Jewish,” the DOT’s consent order listing Lufthansa’s violations stated.

DOT Consent Order by owen on Scribd

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