A California lady is accusing Southwest Airways of racial profiling, saying she was accused of human trafficking whereas travelling together with her biracial daughter.
Mary MacCarthy of Los Angeles instructed CNN she and her 10-year-old daughter, Moira, had been flying to Denver on October 22 after receiving information that MacCarthy’s brother had out of the blue died.
MacCarthy stated they’d a quick cease in San Jose and boarded one other Southwest flight however realized then that they could not be seated collectively.
“I requested flight attendants if we may very well be seated collectively however they instructed us we would every should take a center seat,” MacCarthy stated. “So with their permission I requested different passengers if they’d kindly transfer so we may very well be collectively, particularly as my daughter was grieving, they usually did. Persons are good.”
After they arrived in Denver, MacCarthy stated, she and her daughter had been met on the jetway by two Denver cops.
“I acquired fairly a shock; having misplaced my brother the night time earlier than, I assumed that another person in my household had died and that police had been despatched to ship the information!” MacCarthy wrote in an electronic mail to Southwest Airways’ media workforce, which was included within the police report.
“As for my daughter, she was terribly frightened: she was already experiencing the trauma of her uncle’s demise, and she or he is frightened of police on account of fixed headlines about how police deal with Black individuals (she is Black). She started to sob and was inconsolable,” her electronic mail stated.
The officers assured her nothing was improper however stated they wished to query her and her daughter, MacCarthy stated.
“They stated they had been right here as a result of my daughter and I had been reported for suspicious conduct, performing suspiciously earlier than boarding and whereas boarding,” she stated.
“I took out my cellphone and instantly began recording. I instructed (the officer) who we had been and that my daughter was crying as a result of she had misplaced a member of the family,” MacCarthy stated.
In response to a report from the Denver police, “Each Mom and little one had been cleared.”
The report additionally famous that officers had been responding to a “doable Human Trafficking reported by South West flight attendant” — however MacCarthy says she solely came upon two weeks later that she was suspected of human trafficking.
“I acquired a name from Denver Police human trafficking unit letting me know they had been following up on the incident,” she instructed CNN.
CNN reached out to the Denver Police Division on Sunday afternoon about MacCarthy’s declare however has not acquired a response.
MacCarthy accuses Southwest Airways of racial profiling. She says she’s retained an legal professional and desires the airline to be held “absolutely accountable.”
“I gave the airline loads of time to contact me and apologize — over two weeks later, I’ve but to obtain something greater than two transient automated responses. The time for an apology is long gone,” MacCarthy stated.
In her electronic mail to Southwest’s media workforce, MacCarthy stated she wished a written apology from the airline, quick reimbursement of the complete worth of their tickets, and “further compensation to account for the trauma imposed on an harmless household, and particularly on a grieving ten year-old Black lady.”
Southwest Airways stated it’s “disheartened” by MacCarthy’s account of the occasions and plans to succeed in out to her.
“We’re conducting a overview of the state of affairs internally, and we will likely be reaching out to the Buyer to handle her considerations and supply our apologies for her expertise touring with us. Our Staff endure sturdy coaching on Human Trafficking. Above all, Southwest Airways prides itself on offering a welcoming and inclusive setting for the hundreds of thousands of Clients who journey with us every year,” Southwest Airways spokesperson Dan Landson stated in an announcement to CNN on Sunday.
“Had this been a White little one, there wouldn’t have been a raised eyebrow,” MacCarthy’s legal professional David Lane instructed CNN.
