The German airline Lufthansa stopped a group of 128 Orthodox Jews from boarding a plane in Germany.

Now Lufthansa will be fined four million dollars for discriminating against them, according to a decision by the US Department of Transportation.

”"No one should be discriminated against when they travel, and today's announcement sends a clear message to the airline industry that we are prepared to investigate and take action whenever passengers' civil rights are violated," said US Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg in a statement.

The incident occurred in May 2022. The group was en route from New York to Budapest, Hungary, but was denied boarding a connecting flight in Frankfurt, reports NBC.

The reason is said to be that some in the group refused to wear protective masks.

A video of the incident showed Lufthansa staff telling them that ”everyone has to pay” for mistakes made by a few, then defining ”everyone” as ”Jews who came from JFK (New York airport).”.

Lufthansa says in a statement that the company has cooperated fully with the Department of Transport during the investigation.

Source: TT-DI.SE