Queen family grounded by JetBlue because they are Orthodox Jews: suit

Metro

By Dean Balsamini

A Queens couple contends their family was unfairly bounced from a New York-bound JetBlue flight because they are Orthodox Jews, according to a $40 million lawsuit against the airline.

Michael Nektalov, 42, wife Miryem Yushanayev, and their five children were returning from an Aruba vacation on Feb. 4, 2021 when they and another Jewish family were kicked off the plane.

The couple were dressed according to “the custom of our religious community,” including a head covering for Miryem and a long beard and yarmulke for Michael, according to the Brooklyn Federal Court papers.

The family also spoke at times in Hebrew.

The “uncomfortable” couple said they knew “somehow trouble would ensue,” after JetBlue employees gave them “disdainful and dirty looks,” they said in court papers.

Just prior to takeoff, the plane taxied back to the gate, the family said in court papers.

When Nektalov’s wife asked one of the flight attendants what was happening, “all she was told was, ‘Oh, your mask slipped off your nose,’” they said in the legal filing, adding, “he then made a note of her seat.”

The mom was then removed from the plane after being falsely accused of not wearing a face mask, the family alleged, while a different Jewish family were also asked to leave.

When the Jewish families asked why they were being booted, a JetBlue employee allegedly “loudly” announced that if “we all did not get off the plane, the entire plane would have to be deplaned.”

“In that moment, I felt as though we were in Nazi Germany, and that we were being isolated, vilified, and herded for disposal,” Nektalov said in the Jan. 26 filing.

A JetBlue spokesman said the company had not yet reviewed the lawsuit.

“We do not tolerate discrimination of any kind at JetBlue. …We take any claims such as these seriously and will work to fully understand the facts of what happened in this event,” said spokesman Derek Dombrowski.