*

USDOT said airline barred 128 Jewish passengers from

boarding

connecting flight

*

Lufthansa says it did not discriminate, has implemented

training

program

*

USDOT says it's largest-ever fine against an airline for

civil

rights violations

(Recasts; adds Lufthansa comment, background on incident)

By David Shepardson

WASHINGTON, Oct 15 (Reuters) -

Lufthansa has agreed to pay a $4 million penalty

for allegedly discriminating against Jewish passengers who were

trying to board a connecting flight in Frankfurt in May 2022,

the U.S. Transportation Department said on Tuesday.

Lufthansa prohibited 128 Jewish passengers, nearly all

of whom wore garments generally worn by Orthodox Jewish men,

from boarding a connecting flight in Germany on the basis of

alleged misbehavior by some passengers, the Transportation

Department said.

Although many of the passengers did not know each other or

were not traveling together, passengers interviewed by DOT

investigators stated that Lufthansa treated them as if they were

a single group and denied all of them boarding for the alleged

misbehavior of a few, DOT said.

The passengers, who had flown from New York to

Frankfurt, were trying to board a connecting flight to Budapest.

Under the consent order, Lufthansa agreed to pay $2 million

and the Department of Transportation said it will credit the

airline with $2 million that it paid in compensation to

passengers.

Lufthansa did not admit to any violations under the consent

order and it denied that any of its employees discriminated

against passengers. It contended as many as 60 passengers

onboard at any given time were disregarding crew instructions.

The airline said it regretted and has publicly

apologized on numerous occasions for the circumstances

surrounding the decision to deny boarding, USDOT said in the

consent order.

The airline said the incident "resulted from an

unfortunate series of inaccurate communications,

misinterpretations, and misjudgments throughout the

decision-making process," the Transportation Department said.

Lufthansa said in a statement Tuesday that since the 2022

incident, it has fully cooperated with the DOT and remains

focused on many efforts including partnering with American

Jewish Committee to curate "a first-of-its kind training program

in the airline industry for our managers and employees to

address antisemitism and discrimination."

USDOT said the penalty is the largest it has ever issued

against an airline for civil rights violations.

"No one should face discrimination when they travel, and

today's action sends a clear message to the airline industry

that we are prepared to investigate and take action whenever

passengers' civil rights are violated," Transportation Secretary

Pete Buttigieg said.