A white mother who was suspected of trafficking her biracial daughter in October 2021 by Southwest Airlines employees has filed a racial discrimination suit against the company.
Mary MacCarthy was traveling to Denver from Los Angeles with her 10-year-old daughter to attend her brother's funeral, she told NBC News nearly two years ago. Upon landing in Denver, MacCarthy and her daughter were confronted by police officers because a flight attendant suspected her of potential human trafficking.
A federal lawsuit filed Thursday in the District Court of Colorado accused Southwest Airlines of racial discrimination. MacCarthy accused the airline staff of flagging her as suspicious "based on a racist assumption about a mixed‐race family."
David Lane, the attorney representing MacCarthy, said that the suit is designed to bring accountability and to have the airline re-examine its own training. He said that the use of racial profiling in this case has attempted to address a serious crime with a "stereotypical, easy formula."
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Southwest Airlines declined to comment on the litigation Sunday. The company said in 2021 that it was conducting a review of the incident, but the airline did not answer questions as to the results of its review on Sunday.
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