Lufthansa is facing a lawsuit in which it’s being accused of outing a gay couple to the Saudi Arabian government, due to the indiscretion of a manager for the airline, who also reportedly demeaned the couple. This is quite a wild story, and based on the allegations, it sure seems like they have a point (thanks to an OMAAT reader who is a lawyer for bringing this to my attention)…
Lufthansa manager in Riyadh accused of indiscretion
This incident involves a gay couple, with one man being a United States citizen, and one man being a Saudi Arabian citizen. The couple had been together for over 30 years, in a “committed, but discreet” relationship, and spent most of their time living in Saudi Arabia, but they also often traveled to San Francisco. In 2013, they were legally married in California.
As it’s described, “living very carefully, they successfully kept their 33-year relationship a secret from the government, strangers, employers, friends, and family, alike.” That all changed in May 2021, when the couple wanted to return to San Francisco, after being stuck in Saudi Arabia for over a year, due to pandemic restrictions.
At the time, the United States banned non-citizen travelers from Saudi Arabia from entering the United States, unless they had immediate family who were United States citizens. The couple claimed they booked Lufthansa over other airlines because they expected that Lufthansa would be discreet in handling their martial status for the purposes of the United States entry requirements.
When the couple arrived at Riyadh Airport to check-in, the Lufthansa agent requested that the Saudi Arabian citizen provide his familial relationship that granted him entry to the United States. So they requested to speak to the most senior Lufthansa official at the airport, who was the deputy station manager. While out of earshot of anyone, the couple explained they were married.
The deputy station manager reportedly became loud and hostile, declaring loudly that he could not believe they were married. Even after presenting the marriage certificate, the manager continued to publicly demean and question the relationship.
They were then taken to Lufthansa’s office at the airport, so that copies of the passports and marriage certificate could be sent to Lufthansa’s headquarters. They expressed concern about the Saudi government intercepting these communications, but those concerns were ignored. They asked the deputy manager to call the station manager, but he reportedly refused to speak to them.
The couple were allowed to board, but were shaken by what happened. Long story short, there were a lot of communication failures (Lufthansa claimed they’d reach out to them, but never did), but here’s where it gets problematic.
Around a month after the incident, the Saudi Arabian citizen discovered that his marital status on his Saudi government profile was changed from “single” to “married,” and they allege that “there is no conceivable way the Saudi Arabian government could have learned about Plaintiffs’ marriage other than as a result of” what happened on this Lufthansa flight.
The Saudi Arabian citizen never returned home again
Since this incident, the Saudi Arabian citizen hasn’t returned to his home country, “for fear of harsh penalties for being homosexual, including the revocation of his passport, imprisonment, and even execution.”
Instead, he has remained in the United States, first through a visa, and then through a Green Card. He has also not seen his family since the incident. They all live in Saudi Arabia, and don’t know about his sexuality.
As a result of this, the couple also claims they had to sell real estate in Saudi Arabia, incurring a loss of around $300K. The Saudi citizen also claims to have developed pulmonary fibrosis, a terminal illness, which he claims is a result of the stress from the incident.
In 2024, a judge had ruled that the lawsuit couldn’t proceed in California, because while Lufthansa does business in California, “plaintiffs failed to show that their claims arise out of or relate to defendants’ activities in California.” However, that wasn’t the end of this. The United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth District has just issued a decision, reversing the previous decision.
My take on this Lufthansa Saudi Arabia lawsuit
I’m not a lawyer, so I’m not going to claim to have a good take on the legal basis of this lawsuit. However, I certainly feel bad for this couple, and have a few thoughts:
- Bigger picture, I feel bad for this Saudi Arabian citizen, as I can only imagine the stress he has felt living in the closet for decades; I know this is so common in many parts of the world, but I’m grateful that I can just be myself and live openly, and have the acceptance of family and friends
- Shame on this deputy station manager for his lack of discretion; I understand he might personally take issues with the way other people live their lives, but one would hope that employees for a German airline are trained when it comes to respect and tolerance in line with the values of that company, at a minimum (for what it’s worth, this guy still seems to work at Lufthansa, based on his LinkedIn)
- I am curious about how the information sharing could’ve actually happened here; does this have to be something as nefarious as the Saudi Arabian government “intercepting” these communications, or the manager proactively reporting this to the government, or is there just a certain level of information sharing between governments?
- I also don’t actually know what kind of repercussions this man would face; admittedly a citizen might face harsher punishments than a foreigner, since generally there aren’t laws against “being gay” (as in… having gay thoughts), but instead, the laws are against acting on it, etc.
- I’m curious if the accusations can actually be proven, beyond there just being a hunch that this thing that happened at Lufthansa check-in triggered all of this; yes, it seems likely, but is it beyond a reasonable doubt?
Bottom line
Lufthansa is facing a lawsuit over a 2021 incident, where an American and Saudi Arabian gay couple were traveling from Saudi Arabia to the United States. Due to pandemic restrictions, they had to prove their marriage in order to enter the United States.
The Lufthansa manager at Riyadh Airport was reportedly incredibly rude to them, didn’t believe they were married, and became loud and hostile. A month later, the Saudi Arabian citizen noticed his government profile showed his marital status as being updated, from “single” to “married.”
He hasn’t returned to Saudi Arabia since, meaning he hasn’t seen his family, and he claims to have even developed serious health issues as a result of the stress from this incident.
What do you make of this Lufthansa “outing” situation?
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