Washington, DC – Delta Airlines and its regional carrier recently reached an agreement with a Sikh American passenger, Hansdip Singh Bindra, who filed a lawsuit alleging racial profiling, intimidation and harassment during a routine commercial flight two years ago.  The terms of the agreement, which remain confidential, were satisfactory to all parties concerned, including Mr. Bindra.

“This was a deeply troubling experience for Hansdip and his family.  However, we feel Mr. Bindra’s civil rights and those of other Sikh American air travelers were vindicated through this settlement,” said SMART President Manjit Singh.  “We supported Hansdip’s case from the outset because it represented an intolerable trend of racial profiling and harassment of Sikh Americans in this country.  We hope Sikh Americans will continue to come forward and inform us about similar unprofessional and illegal conduct because there is no justification for these actions against any American.”

The lawsuit was initially filed in September 2003 against Delta Airlines, Inc., its partner Atlantic Coast Airlines, Inc. (now known as Independence Air) and the flight crew following a November 2002 flight when Mr. Bindra reportedly experienced harassment and intimidation.  A software consultant who maintains a turban and beard in accordance with his Sikh faith, Mr. Bindra alleged that he was confronted by a flight attendant who informed him that he and others from “the Middle East” should maintain a “low profile.”

According to the lawsuit, which was supported by sworn affidavits of other passengers on the airplane, Mr. Bindra attempted to inform the flight attendant that he was a Sikh of South Asian origin, but was told to “shut up,” “stay seated” and “do not cause any problems.”  Furthermore, the flight attendant told Mr. Bindra that she felt threatened by his presence on the airplane and was going to ask the captain to take the airplane back to the gate so that Mr. Bindra could be removed by law enforcement officials.  

The flight attendant also approached several passengers prior to the flight’s departure and commented “she would not allow what happened before on this flight," making reference to the terrorist attacks of 9/11.  She then solicited the passengers’ help to physically subdue Mr. Bindra on her signal, because she felt he would be “trouble” on the flight.

In response to these events, a number of Mr. Bindra’s fellow travelers filed complaints against the flight attendant at the conclusion of the flight.  Passengers were outraged at the flight attendant and felt she had lost her composure and she, not Mr. Bindra, was a security risk to the flight.    

The civil rights training of Delta employees which Mr. Bindra sought as relief in connection with his lawsuit conforms with a June 22, 2004 settlement of a similar lawsuit against Delta brought by the U.S. Department of Transportation.  As a part of that settlement, which similarly alleged discrimination after the September 11^th attacks against travelers believed to be Muslim or of Arab, Middle Eastern or South Asian descent, Delta has agreed to provide civil rights training over the next two years to its pilots, flight attendants and passenger service agents.  Under the agreement, the training must cost the company no less than $900,000.

SMART welcomes Delta’s recognition of the need to develop and train a workforce that is well trained in the civil rights laws of the United States, and looks forward to working with Delta and other airlines to achieve these goals.

To view SMART’s September 2003 press release about this case, please click here: http://www.sikhmediawatch.org/press/pressdetail.asp?pressid=56.

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