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US gives woman strip-searched at Detroit airport US$40,000 compensation
DETROIT, April 22, 2015:
A woman of Arab and Jewish descent who was strip-searched at a Detroit-area airport has reached a settlement in a lawsuit filed on her behalf, the American Civil Liberties Union said on Tuesday.
The federal government will give Shoshana Hebshi US$40,000 (RM144,530) as compensation for being humiliated on the 10th anniversary of the Sep 11, 2001 terrorist attacks after armed agents forced her from a plane at Detroit Metropolitan Airport, made her undress during a search and held her for hours.
Hebshi, who has a Jewish mother and Saudi Arabian father, has said she was ethnically profiled based on her dark complexion.
“I filed this lawsuit because I didn’t want others to experience the kind of unnecessary trauma that I did, and it has given me faith that the justice system can work to protect constitutional rights,” Hebshi said in a release.
“This settlement gives me some peace of mind. Now, I feel like I can finally put the incident behind me.”
Hebshi was travelling home to Ohio after visiting a sister in California when she was removed from the Frontier Airlines flight after it landed on Sept 11, 2011.
She was seated next to two Indian-American men, whom crew members had said spent a lot in the plane’s bathroom.
All three were detained, according to the ACLU. Hebshi was held for hours before being released.
The two men also were released.
“People do not forfeit their constitutional rights when they step onto an airplane,” said ACLU attorney Rachel Goodman.
“This settlement sends that critical message, and will help protect future passengers from having to endure what Shoshana went through.”
Frontier Airlines, the Transportation Security Administration and Wayne County Airport Authority were named in the federal lawsuit.
The Airport Authority said its insurer agreed to a financial settlement to avoid “further time-consuming and costly litigation”. That amount was not released.
As part of the settlement, Frontier will amend its employee handbook to more clearly state its zero-tolerance policy on discrimination and provide all new employees with training on that revision.
The airline also will amend its customer complaint policy to ensure allegations of discrimination are given appropriate attention.