JetBlue and TSA settle Arabic T shirt case

JetBlue Airways and two security screeners working for TSA have agreed to pay $240,000 in order to settle a claim made by an Iraqi air passenger that he was prohibited from boarding his flight until he agreed to cover his T-shirt that bore the words “We Will Not be Silent” in both Arabic and English.

In settling the lawsuit, however, JetBlue and the TSA screeners denied they had done anything wrong, indicating that they wanted a resolution to the federal lawsuit that had been ongoing for two and a half years.

Raed Jarrar, an Iraqi immigrant to the U.S., called the settlement a victory, and said that the amount of the payout would act as a deterrent to airline and security officials at airports from such actions in the future.

Aden Fine, the ACLU attorney representing Jarrar, agreed that the settlement was a victory. “A $240,000 award should send a clear and strong message to all TSA officials and to all airlines that what happened here is wrong and should not happen again,” Fine added.

Garfield Harris and Franco Trotta, the two TSA screeners, would not comment and referred all questions to their attorneys and the TSA. Their attorneys also declined to comment.

Christopher White, a spokesman for TSA, noted that TSA was not involved in the lawsuit, commented: “There is absolutely no intention to take disciplinary action against the employees involved.”

Thanks to edition.cnn.com for the above quotes, for more information on this article please visit their website.

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