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2022. It is summer.

A man is flying from Norway to the USA with two family members.

The man, who is born and raised in Norway, has one parent from an African country.

He meets a friend and strikes up a conversation.

Then they check in their luggage and get through security without any problems.

Inside, the man meets more people he knows.

He walks over and talks to them.

Then he goes to gate, where his family members are waiting for him.

Everything seems fine.

But when he is about to board the plane, he is stopped.

He is told that he has been selected for a random security check.

The man must give up his passport and ticket.

Then comes the counter message.

He's a security risk, they say.

The captain has decided that he's not allowed on board the aircraft.

They say nothing about why he is a security risk.

The man is left on his own at the baggage carousels.

There he stands for a long time, alone, while his family fly to New York.

Mann på flyplass som ser ut vindu på fly — Illustration photo.

After waiting for several hours, the man finally went home.

The next day, he asked the airline for an explanation. He did not receive one.

In the weeks that followed, the man continued to ask for an explanation as to why he was a security risk. But he didn't get one.

The man thought there must be another reason why he was stopped: the colour of his skin and his name.

The man decided to file a complaint against the airline with the Anti-Discrimination Tribunal (Diskrimineringsnemnda) because he believed they had discriminated against and/or harassed him. He also claimed compensation for financial loss.

It is easy, and free of charge, to submit a complaint electronically to the Tribunal.

Both parties can present their side of the case in writing.

The complainant has the right to know who has filed the complaint, and both parties get to know what the other writes in their statement.

The Tribunal's experienced and qualified lawyers decide whether there has been a breach of the law.

The video explains what discrimination and harassment are.

Are you unsure whether you have been discriminated against or harassed, or do you have questions about the legislation? Then you can contact the Equality and Anti-Discrimination Ombud.

Learn more

The airline explained to the Tribunal that the man had behaved «irrationally».

He moved around too much inside the airport.

Several of their employees believed he appeared intoxicated or mentally unbalanced.

The decision to deny him permission to fly had nothing to do with ethnicity, they emphasized.

The man didn't understand any of that.

After the complaint was filed, the airline reviewed the incident again.

They realized that they had clearly made a mistake.

They apologized for the man's experiences.

But they still believed that it had nothing to do with ethnicity.

Advokat og klient i samtale om sak — Illustration photo.

The Tribunal does not agree.

After speaking with both parties, the Tribunal's lawyers believe that the airline's explanation is unlikely. Neither the man nor the Tribunal has been shown the safety report or other documentation that can confirm the airline's explanation.

The Tribunal's conclusion is that it is highly probable that ethnicity was a decisive reason why the airline regarded the man as a security risk and refused to allow him to board the plane.

The airline has discriminated against him on the basis of ethnicity.

The Tribunal had no grounds for awarding the man compensation, but pointed out that it was natural for the company to compensate him for the injustice committed against him.

Read the Tribunals decision (in Norwegian)

Have you ever experienced discrimination?

Here you can make a complaint

All images are illustration photos.

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