Pregnant Pakistani Woman Denied Right to Board U.S. Plane

The year was 2006. America was at its most ignorant and bullying self (wait, that's today - uh, never mind, skip the intro).

A Pakistani woman is now suing US Airways after she was detained, while pregnant, for 9 1/2 hours in 2006 because she had facial cream in her carry-on luggage. Rather than discard the cream and let her board the plane, "security officials" detained her without counsel and illegally searched her apartment. Eventually she was released and had to drive to her destination.

http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/080905/wv_terminal_evacuated.html?.v=1

Of course, US Airways has no comment.

Full story from Associated Press:

CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) -- A Pakistan native barred from boarding a US Airways flight at West Virginia's Tri-State Airport two years ago is suing the Tempe-based airline, claiming her constitutional and civil rights were violated.

Rima Qayyum, who now lives in Jackson, Mich., was detained at the airport security line in August 2006 because she had a water bottle and face cream in her carry-on luggage.

Qayyum was traveling a week after U.S. authorities banned the carrying of liquids onto flights. The ban came after British officials made arrests in what they said was a plot to blow up U.S.-bound planes using explosives disguised as drinks and other common products.

Qayyum was interrogated for 9 1/2 hours after airport authorities tested the items and found traces of explosive substances, but the lawsuit alleges the test results were false positives. Results of a later laboratory test were negative.

The lawsuit states that Qayyum was targeted because of her ethnicity.

"US Airways had no legitimate nondiscriminatory reason to believe that Plaintiff posed any security risk," the lawsuit alleges.

"US Airways should have known, trained and instructed its employees, agents and/or representatives to be aware that treating someone differently on the basis of their perceived race, ethnicity, religion and/or national origin is wrong," it says.

While Qayyum was being questioned, she was "denied access to counsel, was illegally detained, an illegal search of her apartment was made and she suffered great emotional distress, worry, anxiety for her health and for the health of her unborn child," the lawsuit says.

The lawsuit says she was carrying the water because she was 4 1/2 months pregnant. It also alleges that liquids found in the carry-on bags of other passengers were discarded.

Because of the incident, the terminal was evacuated and kept closed for more than nine hours.
Qayyum eventually drove to her Michigan destination.

The complaint, filed Aug. 14 in U.S. District Court in Huntington, alleges that US Airways "acted intentionally and/or recklessly when it chose to deny her entrance to its aircraft" and that the airline's "conduct was extreme and outrageous."

The lawsuit seeks a permanent injunction directing the airline to take affirmative steps to remedy illegal discriminatory conduct. It also seeks reasonable attorney fees and costs, and damages and other relief in an amount to be determined at trial.

Valerie Wunder, a spokeswoman for Tempe, Ariz.-based US Airways, declined to comment Thursday.

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