American Airlines colleagues called me a terrorist, alleges Pakistani-origin flight attendant
He also alleged that Federal Bureau of Investigation agents visited his house after he informed his superiors about the harassment.
A Pakistani-origin flight attendant has accused his American Airlines colleagues of calling him a “terrorist” and saying that he was a member of the extremist organisations Hezbollah and Taliban, NJ.com reported.
Farkhan Mahmood Shah, a resident of New Jersey filed a lawsuit against the carrier at the Middlesex Supreme Court. He also alleged that Federal Bureau of Investigation agents visited his house after he informed his superiors about the harassment.
Shah, a Muslim, alleged that he was subjected to religious and ethnic harassment after the September 11, 2001, attack. Shah said the airline failed to stop the abuse and sought damages, attorney fees and other relief from the carrier and the Association of Professional Flight Attendants.
Shah, who started working with the airline in 1999, alleged another colleague had tried to convert him to Christianity. American Airlines spokesperson Matt Miller said the company was reviewing Shah’s claims. “American does not tolerate discrimination of any kind,” Miller said .
Shah said he had first complained in 2008 when he noticed he was wrongly marked absent or late at work. The Pakistani-origin employee, who is still on the airline’s payroll, said he and his colleagues were discussing the 9/11 attack in 2014 when one of his colleagues blamed “evil Muslims” for the attack. Shah said that he in turn had shared that some theories indicated that the attack was an “inside job” and that the Central Intelligence Agency had created the radical Islamic State group. He alleged that his comments were relayed to his supervisors.
In 2016, he filed a complaint with the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission which allowed him permission to sue. He said two weeks after he filed that complaint, FBI agents visited his residence and asked him if he was planning on hurting anyone, the website reported.