Delta Air Lines was fined $50,000 by the U.S. Department of Transportation after ordering three Muslim passengers off a flight.

Delta denied that it discriminated against the passengers in two separate incidents but agreed it could have handled the situations differently, according to a consent order released Friday by the U.S. Transportation Department.

According to the order, the DOT claims Delta violated federal statutes that prohibit carriers from discriminating based on the basis of race, color, national origin, religion, sex or ancestry.

In one case in July 2016, a Muslim couple, the wife wearing a head scarf, were headed from Paris back home to Cincinnati. A passenger told a flight attendant that the couple's behavior made them “very uncomfortable and nervous," claiming that she saw the man had “inserted something plastic into his watch" and that the couple was “fidgety, nervous, and sweating.”

At the captain’s request, a Delta supervisor and security officer interviewed the couple outside the plane. Delta’s corporate security office reported that the couple “raised no red flags,” and they were cleared to fly, according to the consent order. But the captain refused to let them re-board the plane; they flew home the next day.

A few days later, a similar situation occurred with a man traveling from Amsterdam to New York. According to the order, flight attendants and other passengers complained about the Muslim passenger, but the captain decided to continue with the flight after his co-pilot walked through the cabin and observed nothing remarkable. Delta's corporate security office also reported the passenger had “no red flags.”

After flight attendants expressed that they remained uncomfortable, the captain returned to the gate and requested that the passenger be removed and booked on a later flight.

"This action was taken without following required Delta security protocol. Moreover, even though security inspected the area surrounding (the passenger's) seat and his baggage was offloaded, (the passenger) was not subjected to additional security screening prior to being rebooked," the order reads.

In addition to the fine, the order directs Delta to "cease and desist from future similar violations," mandates civil rights training to certain Delta employees and requires the airline to enhance its e-training civil rights program.

Contributing: The Associated Press

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