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Jury Rules Against United Airlines, Awards Arab-American $3 Million
May 11, 1999
A jury found that Ahmad Abu-Aziz was harassed by co-workers because of his Arab ethnic origin, and that a United Air Lines manager knowingly used false accusations of misconduct to terminate him in complicity with the harassers and in retaliation for his complaint of discrimination.
Mr. Abu-Aziz worked for four months cleaning airplane interiors at Oakland International Airport for United. Mr. Abu-Aziz complained that co-workers at United created a hostile work environment through discriminatory harassment and ridiculed him because of his Arab origin. Mr. Abu-Aziz complained to his supervisors of harassment and the ridicule abated. However, six weeks after complaining of discrimination, Mr. Abu-Aziz was fired because of accusations by co-workers that he was stealing alcohol and drinking on the job. Abu-Aziz testified that the accusations were false, and claimed that a United manager knowingly used false accusations as a pretext to fire him in retaliation for his complaint of discrimination.
During the trial, Mr. Abu-Aziz testified that he was constantly humiliated in front of co-workers. On one occasion a flight attendant laughingly told him in front of his co-workers that he "looked like a terrorist."
Mr. Abu-Aziz testified that his supervisor ridiculed his name upon their first meeting and singled him out for the unfair assignment of cleaning all airplane lavatories. Mr. Abu-Aziz was put under greater scrutiny than other employees and was ordered to clean a toilet with his hands, rather than a brush.
The Jury found in favor of Mr. Abu-Aziz and awarded him economic damages of $246,201, emotional distress damages of $50,000, and punitive damages of $2,670,000.
Mr. Abu-Aziz was represented by attorney John Riley who is one of the 243 excellent attorneys on the ADC's referral list. Mr. Riley said "the jury award serves as a strong message to United that it can no longer discriminate against Arab-Americans with impunity."
ADC urges all Arab-American victims of discrimination to report their cases to the ADC Legal Department and pursue their legal rights in court. We congratulate Mr. Abu-Aziz, and urge all Arab-Americans to follow his example.
American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee
4201 Connecticut Ave., N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20008, U.S.A
Tel: (202) 244-2990
E-mail: adc@adc.org
Web: http://www.adc.org
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