TSA and Jet Blue Pay $240,000 To Man Who Was Prevented From Boarding Because He Wouldn’t Cover Up Arabic on T-shirt

The questionable judgment of TSA and the airlines is costing money.

By The Associated Press

NEW YORK – The American Civil Liberties Union said Monday JetBlue Airways Corp. and the Transportation Security Administration paid $240,000 to a man who claimed he was discriminated against based on his ethnicity and Arabic writing on his T-shirt.
Raed Jarrar alleged that the TSA and JetBlue officials prevented him from boarding a flight out of New York’s John F. Kennedy Airport in August 2006 until he agreed to cover his shirt, which read “We Will Not Be Silent” in English and Arabic. Jarrar also claimed JetBlue eventually allowed him on the flight, but then made him sit at the back of the plane.
The American Civil Liberties Union filed a federal civil rights lawsuit on Jarrar’s behalf in August 2007.
A JetBlue spokeswoman was not immediately available to comment on the settlement.
TSA and JetBlue agreed to settle the case for $240,000 late last month and delivered the settlement to Jarrar on Friday, the ACLU said.
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