Lufthansa Fined $4 Million for Violating 128 Jewish Passengers’ Civil Rights 

German airline Lufthansa has been fined $4 million after "prohibiting" 128 Jewish passengers from boarding a flight, the U.S. Department of Transportation announced.

According to the DOT's Tuesday, Oct. 15 press release, the airline received the penalty "for discriminating against Jewish passengers" traveling from New York City with a stop in Frankfurt, Germany, and a final destination of Budapest, Hungary, in May 2022.

The 128 Jewish passengers were among the 131 total passengers onboard, traveling for an annual memorial event to honor an Orthodox rabbi, a consent order released by the DOT explains.

The transportation department states that it received over 40 discrimination complaints after the Jewish passengers, "most of whom wore distinctive garb typically worn by Orthodox Jewish men," were denied from boarding their connecting flight in Frankfurt.

While "many" passengers did not know each other and were not traveling together, the DOT notes that the captain alerted Lufthansa security during the first flight that "some passengers were failing to follow crew instructions and were connecting to another flight to Budapest."

The agency states that while Lufthansa later failed to identify any of the passengers who failed to follow crewmember instructions, "the alert to security resulted on a hold being placed on over 100 passengers' tickets with a final destination of BUD, which then prevented passengers from boarding their next scheduled flight at FRA."

"All of the passengers with a hold placed on their ticket were Jewish," said the DOT.

While the fine is the largest ever issued by the DOT against an airline for civil rights violations, the agency also credited Lufthansa $2 million for compensation it paid the affected passengers, cutting the total amount owed to $2 million, the consent order explains.

In a statement included in the consent order, the airline said it was entering the agreement "to avoid litigation threatened by the Department, despite Lufthansa’s belief that the Department lacks jurisdiction over events that occurred outside the United States and despite disagreeing with the Department’s conclusions."

Following Tuesday's announcement, Lufthansa said in a statement shared with PEOPLE that it "has fully cooperated with the DOT throughout its review process" and has created training programs for its employees to "address antisemitism and discrimination."

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"Lufthansa is dedicated to being an ambassador of goodwill, tolerance, diversity, and acceptance," the airline added.