First class Delta passenger: I was kicked off flight for looking at white flight attendant wrong
A first-class passenger has slammed Delta Airlines in a complaint after she claimed she was a victim of discrimination by a flight attendant who chastised her for simply looking in her direction.
A first-class passenger has slammed Delta Airlines in a complaint after she claimed she was a victim of discrimination by a flight attendant who chastised her for simply looking in her direction.
Teresa Hudson Jordan and her daughter, who was not named in the complaint, sued Delta after alleged racially motivated behavior by a white flight attendant against their black family.
Jordan claimed that a shocking sequence of events occurred on Delta Flight 5792 in March flying from Lexington, Kentucky, to New York, New York.
In a grotesque display of racial hostility, Ms Jordan, a Black woman traveling with her minor daughter in first class, was singled out, verbally assaulted, and subjected to public disgrace aboard Delta Flight 5792, for simply meeting the gaze of a white flight attendant, a complaint read.
After simply making eye contact with the flight attendants, Jordan was yelled at by the flight attendant who threatened to turn this plane around, for looking at her, according to the complaint.
The attendant is accused of screaming at Jordan to stop looking at her and to stop eyeing her up and down.
She then threatened to turn the plane around and go back to the gate, repeatedly asking Jordan if she understood.
The events were allegedly reminiscent of an era when a simple glance from a Black person toward a white individual would trigger brutal retaliation, the complaint continued.
Teresa Hudson Jordan filed a complaint against Delta Airlines for discrimination and emotional distress after she claimed she was mistreated on a flight
The complaint alleges that Jordan was berated by a flight attendant just for looking at her the wrong way
Jordan said she didnt engage with the attendant, but the situation only continued to escalate.
She says the attendant accused Jordan of allegedly disrupting the flight and the mother and daughter were eventually forcibly removed in a humiliating scene.
A witness named Antoinette Wilson described the treatment as similar to that of A dog or a slave, according to the complaint.
Another witness, Megan Corey was quoted in the complaint, Ive never seen/heard a flight attendant act so aggressively towards a passenger. It was disturbing and unwarranted. Im filing a complaint.
To make matters worse, Jordan was traveling with her daughter to attend a critical medical appointment.
The flight attendant allegedly lied to the other crew onboard, including the captain, accusing Jordan of being an unruly and disruptive passenger.
Based on these claims, the captain halted on the runway and turned back to the gate so that Jordan and her daughter could be removed.
This case epitomizes the revolting reality that, even in the year 2025, Black Americans continue to endure the indignity of Flying While Black, an experience steeped in humiliation and echoing the dehumanizing degradations of the Jim Crow South, Jordans attorney, Jon L Norinsberg wrote in the complaint.
The flight attendant allegedly lied to the captain about Jordans behavior which prompted him to turn the flight around so she could be removed with her daughter at the gate
Norsinberg also alleged that Delta never investigated the incident or responded to eyewitness accounts of the abuse.
Jordans attorney told The Independent that eyewitnesses, who were strangers to her, wrote to Delta confirming the verbal abuse.
He added that the passengers noticed the flight attendant was laughing and joking after humiliating Jordan and her daughter.
Jordan is seeking damages from Delta Air Lines for discrimination, intentional infliction of emotional distress, and assault.
A spokesperson for the airline told The Independent, While we have no specific comment on this pending litigation, Delta has zero tolerance for discrimination of any form.
DailyMail.com reached out to Delta Airlines for comment on the case but didnt immediately hear back.