Lawsuits accuse airlines of profiling By Donna Leinwand, USA TODAY WASHINGTON =97 Five men who say they were barred from airline flights= because=20 they appeared to be Arabs will sue four airlines today, their lawyers said.= =20 The lawsuits accuse the airlines of discrimination unrelated to security,=20 the American Civil Liberties Union says. The lawsuits by four U.S. citizens= =20 and a legal resident will be filed in federal court in Washington, New York= =20 and Los Angeles by the ACLU and Relman & Associates, a Washington, D.C.=20 civil rights law firm, the ACLU said. The cases involve men who appear to=20 be of Arab descent and who had been cleared through security, but were=20 removed from flights or denied boarding, lawyers familiar with the case=20 said Monday. The law firm and the ACLU said they would identify their=20 clients today. The American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee and the Council on=20 American-Islamic Relations say that they have documented an increasing=20 number of incidents of profiling at airports since the attacks on the=20 Pentagon and World Trade Center on Sept. 11. In its human rights report=20 issued April 30, CAIR recorded 191 alleged incidents. In one case expected= =20 to be filed today, Arshad Chowdhury, an MBA student who in October had=20 visited a friend in California, was returning to school in Pittsburgh on a= =20 Northwest Airlines flight when he was pulled for a series of security=20 checks. Chowdhury was cleared by law enforcement officials, but he says a=20 flight attendant barred him from boarding. The attendant said, "I'm sorry,= =20 sir. This won't make sense to you, but you can't fly with us," he said in=20 an interview with The Nation magazine. Chowdhury could not be reached for=20 comment Monday. Northwest officials say they have been in contact with Chowdhury's=20 attorney, Christy Lopez of Relman & Associates for several months and have= =20 investigated his claims. The airline acted within Federal Aviation=20 Administration security guidelines when it refused to board Chowdhury,=20 Northwest spokesman Bill Mellon said. "The action was not based on his=20 ethnic background," Mellon said, but because "Northwest's pilot received=20 conflicting information about whether authorities had cleared him to fly,"= =20 Mellon said, not because of his ethnic background. Northwest rebooked=20 Chowdhury on a direct flight once the airline received official clearance,= =20 Mellon said. Relman & Associates also represents U.S. Secret Service Agent= =20 Wallid Shatter, who has complained that an American Airlines pilot refused= =20 to allow him to board a flight from Baltimore to Dallas. American Airlines= =20 said the armed agent presented sloppy paperwork. The agent has not filed a= =20 lawsuit. The owner of Roger's Trinbago Site: Roj (Roger James) *************************************************** escape email mailto:ejames@escape.ca Trinbago site: http://www.tntisland.com CBSC Website http://www.tntisland.com/caribbeansocabrassconnection/ The Trinbago Site of the Week: (Robbie Greenidge) http://www.steeldrumband.net/greenidge/ (Robert Greenidge - Pan Arranger/Composer/Player) courtesy of Roj Trinbago Website & TnT Web Directory Roj's Trinbago Website: http://www.tntisland.com TnT Web Directory: http://search.co.tt *********************************************************