The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) fined Lufthansa $4 million on Tuesday, accusing the Germany-based airline of discrimination for banning more than 100 Jewish passengers from boarding a flight more than two years ago.

According to the DOT's consent order, the incident dates back to May 2022, when Lufthansa denied boarding to 128 Jewish passengers on a connecting flight in Germany after “some misconduct by some passengers” on the original flight, which departed from New York.

Deutsche Lufthansa AG passenger aircraft at Frankfurt Airport on Thursday, February 1, 2024. (Alex Kraus/Bloomberg via Getty Images / Getty Images)

The original flight had 131 passengers, all en route to Budapest, Hungary, for an annual memorial service honoring an Orthodox rabbi, and most of them were wearing “distinctive robes typically worn by Orthodox Jewish men,” according to the DOT.

The agency said it received over 40 complaints from Jewish passengers involved in the incident and that most passengers did not know each other despite their common destination.

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The DOT said it concluded that Lufthansa discriminated against the passengers because the airline “treated them all as if they were a single group and denied them boarding because of the alleged misconduct of a few.”

Passengers queue after an IT error at Germany's Lufthansa caused massive flight delays and disruptions in Frankfurt, February 15, 2023. (REUTERS/Kai Pfaffenbach / Reuters Photos)

The U.S. Defense Department said the $4 million penalty was the largest it has ever imposed on an airline for civil rights violations.

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“No one should be discriminated against when traveling, and today’s action sends a clear signal to the airline industry that we are prepared to investigate and take action when passengers’ civil rights are violated,” U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said in a statement to announce decision.

Pete Buttigieg, U.S. Secretary of Transportation, speaks during a press conference ahead of the Labor Day celebration weekend at O'Hare International Airport in Chicago, Illinois, U.S., on Friday, September 1, 2023. (Taylor Glascock/Bloomberg via Getty Images / Getty Images)

Lufthansa said in a statement to FOX Business that it has cooperated fully with the DOT's review process and that “we remain focused on the many efforts initiated, including partnering with the American Jewish Committee (AJC), a highly respected and globally recognized body.” .” Advocacy and thought leadership.”

“Through our ongoing collaboration, we have put together a training program unique in the aviation industry for our managers and employees to combat anti-Semitism and discrimination,” the statement said, adding: “As the first airline to adopt the International Holocaust.” Given the Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) working definition of anti-Semitism, Lufthansa will continue to promote thoughtful dialogue with Jewish communities and organizations around the world.”

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The DOT's consent order states that the airline says it “regrets and has publicly apologized for the circumstances surrounding the decision to deny boarding to the affected passengers” in the incident, but “each “Rejects any suggestion that any of their employees were involved in this form of discrimination.”

Lufthansa also stated in its response to the DOT that it “has no tolerance for any form of religious or ethnic discrimination, including anti-Semitism.”