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A California mother is suing Southwest Airlines for racial profiling after an incident in October 2021.
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The flight attendant reported the white mother and her biracial child as “suspicious” to the police.
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she for Newsweek It was “exhausting” to feel overly aware of interactions with your child.
A mother sued Southwest Airlines for “blatant racism” after she said it was accused of trafficking her 10-year-old daughter, court documents seen by Insider show.
In a lawsuit filed in Colorado on Thursday, Mary McCarthy, who is white, said she and her daughter Moira were “racially profiled” by a Southwest Airlines flight attendant on a flight from San Jose to Denver on Oct. 22, 2021.
The suit said the two, who were heading to Denver International Airport for the funeral of McCarthy’s brother, were stopped upon arrival by two police officers and a representative from Southwest on suspicion of human trafficking.
“Unbeknownst to McCarthy, while they were in the air, a female employee from Southwest called the Denver Police Department to report McCarthy on suspicion of child trafficking for no reason other than that of her daughter’s skin being different from hers,” the lawsuit said.
Police then questioned McCarthy and her daughter — who began crying — but eventually let them go, the suit said. She added that the mother and child suffered “severe psychological distress” as a result of the accident.
Police report Previously obtained by Insider He explains that the flight attendant informed the officials that “the mother and daughter did not speak during the flight and she felt that it was strange, just as the mother did not allow the child to speak to the flight crew.”
In a subsequent email to investigators, McCarthy denied the claim, saying her daughter had spent most of the flight listening to an audio book and that they had spoken during the flight.
Southwest Airlines did not immediately respond to Insider’s request for comment.
Company spokesperson He told Newsweek: “We don’t have anything to add right now in this pending litigation.” The outlet was the first to report the lawsuit.
An attorney for MacCarty told Newsweek they hope the lawsuit will prompt Southwest Airlines to re-examine its training and policies around potential human trafficking.
In an interview with Newsweek, MacCarthy said: “To this day, when Moira and I go out in public—especially in airports or on planes—I’m very aware that we may be judged and reported for any interaction we have with each other.”
McCarthy added, “It feels weird to be so uptight about your most basic behavior with your child, and it’s stressful. As for Moira, she’s still nervous and doesn’t want to talk about what happened.”
It appears in the lawsuit that the mother is claiming material compensation, compensation, and disciplinary and exemplary compensation.
Read the original article at Business interested
