Ms Abbasi, who was wearing a hijab, was then escorted from the flight by a TSA official.
Irum Abbasi, a graduate student in experimental psychology, believes she was discriminated against because she was wearing an Islamic headscarf.
Three days after the March 13 incident, Southwest Airlines made a public apology to the 31-year-old after they realised a mistake had been made, saying: 'We sincerely apologize for the customer's inconvenience.'
She was given a seat on the next flight to San Jose and a travel voucher
Civil liberties attorney James McElroy and representatives of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, who filed the lawsuit on Ms Abbasi's behalf, have scheduled a news conference for today in San Diego to discuss the case.

At the time, Mrs Abbasi said of the incident: 'I was in tears. I was just crying. I have lived in the United States for 10 years. I am a U.S. citizen.'

She said that TSA agents patted down her headscarf but soon realised their mistake and did not even inspect her handbag or cellphone

But they refused to let her back on the plane because the crew was 'uncomfortable' with her presence, she was told.

Afterwards, she said the verbal apology 'doesn't make me feel better. This time they said we weren't comfortable with the head scarf.

'Next time, they won't be comfortable with my accent or they won't be comfortable with my South Asian heritage.'http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2046033/Muslim-woman-sues-Southwest-Airlines-kicking-plane-steward-thought-said-Its-phone.html