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LOS ANGELES –– A judge has cleared the way for a discrimination lawsuit by an Arab-American who was removed from a United Airlines flight three months after the Sept. 11 attacks.

U.S. District Judge Florence-Marie Cooper ruled that although airlines need to remove passengers who pose a security threat, that duty "does not grant them a license to discriminate."

The American Civil Liberties Union sued on behalf of Assem Bayaa, an Irvine auditor who was removed from a New York-bound United flight in Los Angeles on Dec. 23. Bayaa said security told him he was removed because the crew wasn't comfortable having him aboard.

The lawsuit seeks an injunction barring United from discriminating against Arab-Americans. Similar lawsuits have been filed in California, Maryland and New Jersey.

United had argued that complying with civil rights laws might conflict with the duty of flight crews to determine whether a passenger poses a security threat.

The American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, which the judge dismissed as a co-plaintiff, contends U.S. airlines have subjected Arab-Americans to a "new and disturbing pattern of discrimination" since the terror attacks. It cited 60 alleged incidents of discrimination against Arab-American passengers in the past year.