Passengers freed from lawsuit

WCCO-TV is reporting today the Imams who are suing over being removed from an airplane after reports of suspicious behavior have dropped the passengers from the lawsuit.

Attorney Frederick Goetz of Minneapolis said a motion to amend the complaint to include the names of the individuals responsible for the imams' removal was entered Tuesday in U.S. District Court. He said that list includes the names of airline employees and police officers, but no passengers.

"We've identified the people we think are responsible," he said.

The Islamic religious leaders were removed from the flight last fall after passengers reported what they considered to be suspicious behavior. The imams, who were handcuffed and questioned, claim the airline discriminated against them and violated their civil rights.

Initially, the lawsuit named as defendants John Does who reported the suspicious behavior, later amending that to identify them as those who "may have made false reports" against the imams with the intent to discriminate.

I'm guessing the imams and their attorney have calculated the backlash against their lawsuit probably hurts their chances of scoring a big payday. "...the people we think are responsible" are really the people Goetz and his clients think will pay to make the lawsuit go away.