Queens couple booted from New York-bound JetBlue flight for being Orthodox Jews: lawsuit
A Queens couple has alleged that their family was booted from a New York-bound JetBlue flight because they are Orthodox Jews.They have filed a $40 million lawsuit against the airline.
A Queens couple has alleged that their family was booted from a New York-bound JetBlue flight because they are Orthodox Jews (REUTERS/Mike Segar/File Photo – representational image)(REUTERS)
Michael Nektalov, 42, wife Miryem Yushanayev, and their five children, as well as another Jewish family, were allegedly bounced from the flight while they were returning from an Aruba vacation on February 4, 2021. The couple was dressed according to “the custom of our religious community” – Miryem wore a head covering and Michael had a long beard and yarmulke , according to Brooklyn Federal Court papers. At times, they spoke in Hebrew.
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Employees gave the couple ‘disdainful and dirty looks’
Court papers said that after JetBlue employees gave them “disdainful and dirty looks,” the “uncomfortable” couple realised “somehow trouble would ensue.”
The plane went back to the gate just before takeoff. Nektalov’s wife questioned one of the flight attendants, who simply said, “Oh, your mask slipped off your nose.”
The family accused the airline of then removing the mom from the plane by falsely accusing her of not wearing a mask. Another Jewish family was also booted.
When the families asked what was happening, an employee announced that if “we all did not get off the plane, the entire plane would have to be deplaned.”
‘I felt as though we were in Nazi Germany, and that we were being isolated’
“In that moment, I felt as though we were in Nazi Germany, and that we were being isolated, vilified, and herded for disposal,” Nektalov said in the January 26 filing.
A JetBlue spokesman said the company has yet to review the lawsuit. “We do not tolerate discrimination of any kind at JetBlue. …We take any claims such as these seriously and will work to fully understand the facts of what happened in this event,” said spokesman Derek Dombrowski.
