United Airlines Escapes Appeal of Racial Discrimination Lawsuit

United Airlines Inc. defeated a racial discrimination lawsuit on Tuesday after a split federal appeals court declined to revive the suit alleging flight attendants unfairly targeted a passenger because he is Asian.

Yubo Miao, an American citizen of Chinese descent, didn’t state a viable claim under federal civil rights law since he failed to plausibly allege he was removed from a flight because of his race, Judge Thomas L. Kirsch II said. The majority with the US Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit affirmed a district court’s dismissal of Miao’s suit.

“While ...