Oh in your frikkin dreams.......see that the current standards discriminate against our OWN AGENTS!!!!!!!!!!!!!
one call says it ALL!@
Lawyers say airline discriminated against US agent
(UPDATE: Updates with Secret Service comment, paragraph 6)
By Claire Soares
WASHINGTON, Jan 3 (Reuters) - Lawyers for an Arab-American Secret Service agent accused American Airlines on
Thursday of racial discrimination when it barred him from a Christmas Day flight, saying a single telephone call to the White
House would have confirmed his identity.
The 33-year-old armed Secret Service agent, whose name was not
released, was on his way to protect a vacationing President George W.
Bush on his Texas ranch.
A pilot at Baltimore/Washington International Airport, operating under
heightened security after the Sept. 11 attacks on the United States,
questioned the agent's credentials and barred him from the Dallas-bound
plane.
``Pure and simple, this is a case of discrimination. Our client believes he
was denied the right to fly ... because he is an American of Arab descent,''
lawyer John Relman told a news conference.
Relman said the agent had not yet decided whether to sue the airline.
Media reports identified the agent as Walied Shater but the Secret Service would not comment on the reports. Secret Service
spokesman Paul Irving said, as a matter of policy, the agency could not confirm the agent's identity. Irving declined further
comment on the incident except to say the Secret Service is conducting an ongoing internal investigation.
Nearly 3,300 people died on Sept. 11 when 19 men believed to be of Arab descent hijacked commercial aircraft and crashed
them into U.S. landmarks.
Bush has said he would be ``madder than heck'' if it turned out the agent, who has been with the Secret Service for seven
years, was a victim of racial profiling.
American Airlines, the world's largest carrier and a unit of AMR Corp. (NYSE:AMR - news), issued a statement rejecting the
allegation of racial discrimination, saying it carried out security according to federal government guidelines.
``Threats of lawsuits will not deter us from justly applying the security programs established to protect the tens of millions of
customers who entrust us with their lives each year,'' it said.
The Fort Worth, Texas-based company released an account of the incident by the pilot, who said he was unconvinced of the
validity of the agent's credentials and who said the agent had been ``confrontational'' and ``abusive.''
The airline statement said the pilot, who was also not identified, had filed a letter of complaint with the Secret Service, which
was investigating the incident.
SEEKS AMICABLE RESOLUTION
Christy Lopez, another of the agent's lawyers, said her client did not want the pilot fired or suspended and was not seeking
financial compensation.
``His goal is to have procedures and training put in place to ensure this does not happen to him or anyone else again,'' she told
reporters.
In the pilot's internal report, he said he had acted in the best interest of his crew.
``I absolutely felt correct in having this individual's identification validated,'' he said. He said the agent had produced three
improperly completed forms and had appeared ``nervous and anxious.''
The agent's lawyers said he was carrying his Secret Service badge and photo identification. They said that during a 75-minute
exchange with the pilot, the agent offered a White House telephone number to assist security checks.
``Any perceived inconsistencies in the paperwork could have been easily cleared up. There's nothing that one phone call would
not have resolved in a minute,'' Lopez said.
Gregg Overman, spokesman for the Allied Pilots Association that represents American Airlines pilots, defended the captain's
right to reject a passenger on security concerns.
``The captain is the ultimate authority on board. That's by federal statute. From what we've seen, it appears the captain acted
well within the bounds of (his) authority. Second- guessing that authority isn't a good idea.''
(Additional reporting by Marcus Kabel in Dallas) |
