Osvaldo Maciel, a Mexican citizen, was flying to New York on a United Airlines flight with his daughter on March 1 when he says he was accused of child trafficking.
In a Huffington Post column, Maciel's wife Maura Furfey said that "there will always be individuals who make racist remarks." However, after they landed, she claims airport authorities took the passenger's claims seriously.
The officers then interrogated Maciel about his child and where she was born, and then called Furfey to verify the story. Officers told Furfey that they were investigating her husband because of the complaint by the passenger.
She wrote she was shocked that "flight attendants would choose to take such an observation seriously."
Furfey wrote that after she complained to United about the treatment, the family received an apology and a $100 voucher.
Of course, the incident sparked outrage on social media, with suggesting that skin color may have played a role in how officials responded.
Some people even shared their same experiences of discrimination.
Others doubted the same response would have occurred had a white person had been involved.
In a statement, United Airlines apologized to the Maciel family for the incident.
"It should be clarified that the passenger was not removed from the flight," the airline added.
The latest complaint came just days after United forcibly removed a passenger and a scorpion allegedly fell from the ceiling during a flight.
@United overbook #flight3411 and decided to force random passengers off the plane. Here's how they did it:
This post was translated from Spanish.