Pak-origin worker sues US airline for being called 'terrorist'

A Pakistani-origin Muslim flight attendant in the US has filed a lawsuit against American Airlines, alleging that his co-workers repeatedly called him a terrorist and part of Hezbollah and the Taliban.

Farkhan Mahmood Shah, of Edison, New Jersey, also claims in the lawsuit, filed recently in the Superior Court in Middlesex County, that the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) agents came to his house after he complained about the harassment to company officials. Shah alleges that he was targeted for religious and ethnic harassment after the attacks of September 11, NJ.com reported. American Airlines failed to stop the harassment after he reported it, Shah claims in the lawsuit.

Shah, who started working at the airline in 1999 as a flight attendant, says in the suit that he was called a terrorist, part of Hezbollah and the Taliban, and other offensive names. On one flight, he claims another flight attendant tried to convert him from Islam to Christianity.American Airlines spokesman Matt Miller said the company is reviewing the complaints

in Shah's lawsuit. "American does not tolerate discrimination of any kind," Miller was quoted as saying. Shah said he reported the alleged harassment in 2008 when he began to notice erroneous marks on his record for being late and missing work.

The complaint escalated to the airline's New York human resources office in 2013 following numerous complaints where he also brought up the record errors. AGENCIES