Retired black judge files complaint against American Airlines

Pamela Hill-Veal, a black woman from Chicago, filed a complaint against American Airlines alleging racial discrimination by a flight attendant. Hill-Veal, who was flying top quality, reported that she was harassed by a flight attendant on February 10 after using the plane’s first-class bathroom.

The complaint, which was sent to American Airlines and received by , detailed this Hill-Veal and her family were flying top quality from Chicago to Phoenix. As she was returning to her seat from the toilet, she was stopped by an anonymous stewardess. “As I was returning to my seat, the flight attendant stopped me and told me that ‘I slammed the toilet door and I shouldn’t do that again because the passengers were sleeping on the plane,’” Hill-Veal said in an interview with . She said she never slammed any doors, but when she tried to make use of the restroom again in top quality, the identical flight attendant stopped her.

Hill-Veal, a retired Illinois district court judge, said American Airlines contacted her to learn more about what happened to her.

The airline said: “We strive to ensure that every customer has a positive travel experience and we take any allegations of discrimination very seriously.”

Hill-Veal recalled the moment the flight attendant began admonishing her.

“He started berating me, pointing his finger at my face and saying, ‘I told you not to slam the door… so from now on you have to use the toilet at the end of the plane,’ pointing in the direction of the toilet on the coach.”

She believes the issue was racially motivated because she saw other white people doing the identical and never being treated the identical way as she was.

As she was leaving, a rude flight attendant followed her to her seat and physically tried to remove her.

In the complaint, Hill-Veal stated that a flight attendant told her she could be arrested because “he didn’t like the way (she) was talking to him” and accused Hill-Veal of hitting him.

“It was a complete fabrication because I told him I never hit him,” she insisted.

Hill-Veal stated that the incident affected her. She loses sleep and feels humiliated by what happened.

“I still don’t feel comfortable flying because I don’t know what they’re going to say about me doing it… trying to hide what they did at that particular time,” Hill-Veal said.