Dude should have done like his was told the first time. If I was the judge I would make him reimburse United and the security group for all of the time they wasted when he didn’t get up and walk off like he was instructed to. If he fussed about that start the discussion about the passengers’ lost time too.
I’m not an attorney, and haven’t read the fine print, but I believe the purchase of a ticket is a contract giving certain rights and reasonable expectations to the buyer. Should be an interesting legal case.