United Airlines takes action following discrimination complaint

EVANSTON, Ill. (WLS) -- United Airlines is taking action in response to a discrimination complaint by a Muslim chaplain at Northwestern University.

Tahera Ahmad says a flight attendant would not give her an unopened can of soda because she said it could be used as a weapon. Ahmad said she has been discriminated against before, and has felt threatened as people spat on her and tried to tear off her hijab.

She says this time, she is going public because she was made out to be the threat. Ahmad said Wednesday she is still reeling from the incident.

"This was not about a can of diet soda. This was much deeper," Ahmad said.

Ahmad was on a United Airlines flight Friday from Chicago to Washington, D.C., when she said a flight attendant gave another passenger an unopened beer can, but refused her request for an unopened can of Diet Coke, saying it could be used as a weapon.

When Ahmad questioned the policy, she says the flight attendant told her she would use it as a weapon.

"I'm basically captive 30,000 feet above the ground in a post-September 11th world and if I say anything, it's fulfilling the stereotype, so to speak," Ahmad said.

Ahmad says the flight attendant and the pilot later apologized, but she wants United Airlines to acknowledge the incident as discriminatory and to condemn it.

Ahmad is supported in that effort by the Council for American Islamic Relations.

"This is about acknowledging the act of discrimination not trivializing it as a regular mundane conversation about a Diet Coke can, but about the hurt it caused a person," said Ahmed Rehab, executive director, CAIR-Chicago.

United previously issued a statement that described the incident as "a misunderstanding regarding a can of diet soda."

But on Wednesday afternoon, the airline sharpened its stance saying, "After investigating this matter, United has ensured that the flight attendant, a Shuttle America employee, will no longer serve United customers. United does not tolerate behavior that is discriminatory, or that appears to be discriminatory, against our customers or employees."

The statement follows a letter to United from Northwestern University President Morton Shapiro, who wants a more formal apology for Ahmad along with assurances that United will train its staff so that she, and others, are never again subjected to such discrimination on a United flight.

The Council for American Islamic Relations (CAIR) said taking legal action is a possibility, but a last resort. Their only goal is ensuring that all passengers are treated with respect.

As for the flight attendant, Ahmad says she does not want her off the job, she just wants this to be a learning experience.