Department of Transportation Completes Investigation of JetBlue

On Wednesday, March 19, 2008 the Department of Transportation (DOT) completed its investigation of Mr. Jarrar’s incident with JetBlue. It found that JetBlue subjected Mr. Jarrar to discrimination by changing his seat from the front to the back of the plane. DOT noted that “the fact that other passengers or crew have a feeling of discomfort or uneasiness that can be attributed to an individual’s skin color, race, ethnicity or clothing that may be indicative of an individual’s race, ethnicity or religion (e.g., t-shirt with Arabic writing, turban) is not a justifiable reason to deny boarding to that individual or to require that individual to accept restrictions such as sitting in the rear of the aircraft in order to be allowed to fly.”