US Airways accused of racial prejudice following baggy pants case

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Last week, 20-year-old Deshon Marman was arrested at San Francisco International Airport after he refused demands by U.S. Airways officials to pull up his sagging pants. Marman intended to fly to Albuquerque, N.M to attend a friends funeral when an airline employee noticed his sagging pants. The University of New Mexico football star was cited with trespassing by Sgt. Michael Rodriguez when he deplaned 15 minutes later.

While unfortunate, the story seemed to have been over until another man, also in questionable attire was allowed to board a U.S. Airways plane a week earlier.

The picture shown above was taken by Jill Tarlow, a passenger on a flight from Ft. Lauderdale to Phoenix on June 9th, who was shocked when she saw a male passenger scantily clad in women’s lingerie. The man from this flight has not been identified, but agreed to take the photo.

“No one would believe me if I didn’t take his picture,” Tarlow said to the San Francisco Chronicle. “It was unbelievable. … And he loved it. He posed for me.”

Marman’s attorney, Joe O’Sullivan, is pointing to the June 9th incident as an example of racial discrimination and claims the Lobos football star was stereotyped as a thug.

“It just shows the hypocrisy involved,” O’Sullivan said in an interview with the Chronicle. “They let a drag queen board a flight and welcomed him with open arms. Employees didn’t ask him to cover up. He didn’t have to talk to the pilot. They didn’t try to remove him from the plane — and many people would find his attire repugnant.”

U.S. Airways spokesman says the airline did review the June 9th incident, but asserts the employees were correct not to ask the man to cover himself.

“We don’t have a dress code policy,” Wunder said. “Obviously, if their private parts are exposed, that’s not appropriate…. So if they’re not exposing their private parts, they’re allowed to fly.”

U.S. Airways has not commented on the June 15th arrest of Deshon Marman. San Francisco Police say only Marman’s boxer shorts were shown. Marman’s lawyer says security footage will prove that his client did not show any skin.

“A white man is allowed to fly in underwear without question, but my client was asked to pull up his pajama pants because they hung below his waist”, said O’Sullivan.