$25 million in an undisclosed settlement with discovery suppressed.
And then they go after the City of Chicago.
Posted on 04/14/2017 3:11:24 PM PDT by Presbyterian Reporter
The passenger who was forcibly removed from a United Airlines flight by aviation security officials Sunday garnered much public sympathy in the days since video emerged of him being dragged, bloody and screaming, down the aisle of a plane. David Dao, 69, retained a lawyer and filed a petition with an Illinois court to get all evidence related to the incident preserved.
While a lawsuit wasn't filed, Dao’s lawyer confirmed in a press conference Thursday there would likely be one, which begs the question: In the wake of such a high-profile, controversial incident, how much will Dao get?
“Dr. Dao will likely get millions here,” James Goodnow, an attorney with the Lamber-Goodnow Injury Law Team at Fennemore Craig, who is licensed in Chicago, told International Business Times in an interview Thursday. “The only question is how many zeros will follow the first number.”
Dao has a number of claims against both the city of Chicago and United. First and foremost, he has an assault and battery case.
“This is going to be a slam dunk, a no-brainer, an easy win,” Goodnow told IBT. “It’s documented on multiple cell phones. There’s no question.
Other claims will likely include breach of contract, false imprisonment, defamation and intentional infliction of emotional distress.
“That’s just a big fancy way of saying that the officers involved, and/or United Airlines, intentionally engaged in outrageous conduct that could be expected to have an emotional impact on Dr. Dao,” said Goodnow. “I think most people would consider this conduct outrageous and I think there’s little question Dao has suffered emotionally.”
There is no specific monetary cap in Chicago on what a plaintiff can get. Dao would likely collect on an array of damages including medical bills, lost wages and general damages, which include those things that can’t be quantified, like emotional distress and pain and suffering. Illinois is one of the most restrictive places in the country when it comes to punitive damages, which refer to damages awarded to punish wrongdoers and deter future wrong conduct, so lawyers would have to look elsewhere for a larger payday.
“The real money is going to come in the area of emotional distress damages — the pain and suffering. We call those general damages,” said Goodnow. “That’s where you can juice this up from a monetary perspective.”
In a typical personal injury case, Goodnow explained, a general rule of thumb is that plaintiffs are rewarded three to four times his or her medical bills. In a case where a client’s past and future medical bills are estimated to be about $100,000, the payout would likely be somewhere between $300,000 and $400,000. Not so for Dao, namely because the case will almost certainly never make it to court.
“What you will see here is a settlement value that will blow away anything Dr. Dao will ever recover in court,” said Goodnow.
Because of the nature of the case and the intense public scrutiny, United will likely be motivated to aim for a settlement, which will garner a larger payout for Dao than a trial would. The company has already become the subject of numerous boycotts, internet mocking and a plunging stock price and can’t afford to be at the center of yet another controversy.
“Look at the attention this case has received in just a few days,” said Goodnow. “Imagine what would happen if you have a public trial and every reporter is covering it. Every day will be another paper cut for United.”
The mistakes made by United after the incident will presumably benefit Dao. At least, from a monetary standpoint.
Instead of apologizing to Dao, the airline said it was sorry for having to “re-accommodate” passengers in their first statement. They were the subject of swift backlash by people who took issue with the phrasing. In a different memo to employees, which was obtained by the media, CEO Oscar Munoz appeared to blame Dao for being “disruptive and belligerent” and leaving the crew “no choice” but to call aviation security to forcibly remove him, though video recorded right before the incident suggested otherwise.
“All of these missteps are going to enter into the equation when United is deciding how much to pay here,” said Goodnow. “If United insults Dr. Dao and his legal team with a 'lowball' offer, they risk an ever greater backlash. If that information were to leak out, it would be so damaging if it looks like, in the face of this, United is trying to get out on the cheap.”
Munoz issued yet another statement from the company Tuesday in which he took “full responsibility” and pledged to make the situation right.
“I don’t think United’s legal team is going to try and 'lowball' Dr. Dao here,” said Goodnow. “I think they’re going to come in with the biggest number they can to get this put to bed as soon as possible.”
One aspect not yet discussed is the reason four UAL employees arrived at the gate and the agents then went on to involuntarily remove four passengers.
Did the four UAL employees live in a distant city and were taking a flight to get to work on Monday morning?
Did the four UAL employees fail to do enough advance planning to get to Louisville?
All of that will come out if this case ever goes to trial. As the attorney states in this article, it is doubtful the case will ever go to trial as UAL would not want to have its dirty linen aired.
my guess...$10,000,000
1. The four crew members were scheduled to fly on an outbound flight out of Louisville the following day and were either running behind schedule themselves or were traveling to Louisville to man a flight whose scheduled crew was flying into Louisville on a delayed flight. According to what some folks here have posted, United was obligated under Federal law to get these four crew members to Louisville.
2. In seating the four crew members, United may have breached the "contract of carriage" with any passengers who were removed from the flight.
It's obviously much more complicated than this, but my understanding is that this was the legal dilemma United faced with the four crew members destined for Louisville.
United’s lawyer’s will press him to settle. They will tell him
- You don’t want TMZ or others further exposing your private life to the public.
- WE are not responsible for your beating. We’re sorry it happened, but that’s the Chicago Transit Cops. Good luck suing them.
- Your ticket clearly states its a contract of carriage with many limitations. Your case won’t go far in court.
- In sum, take $250K and be happy with it.
They’ll probably settle for $500K
You could beat my like a baby seal or 10 minutes and air it prime time for 10 million dollars!!!
He should pay United for causing the mess.
...which begs the question:....
&&&
?
I guess it is time to give up on hoping that people will stop misusing the phrase “begs the question”.
Agree, $5M minimum. And if the stock value fluctuates more than a quarter or two, the CEO will be gone. The market does not like turmoil or weakness.
I’m in for $5 mil
$25 million in an undisclosed settlement with discovery suppressed.
And then they go after the City of Chicago.
It’s worth noting that it may not be in Dr. Dao’s interests to have this case go to trial, either. The video clip from the passenger seated behind him, in which he tells the security staff that they have to drag him off the plane, could do a lot of harm to his case. Even the best trial attorney in the world will have a hard time explaining to a jury why the plaintiff is entitled to a huge pile of money when the defendants did exactly what he told them to do.
Dao should get nothing for any injuries from fighting with security and making them drag him off of their airplane. It’s not his airplane and he had no property right in the seat. Having a ticket to be transported somewhere is not the same as renting an apartment. He had no legal right to exclude the lawful owners of the airplane from removing him for any reason whatsoever. In fact, if security suffered any injuries Dao should have to pay for those.
Should Dau get contractual damages from the fact that United did not honor his ticket and transport him to his destination? Maybe. It depends on whether United complied with all of the requirements of the contract of carriage before refusing to fly him to his destination on that particular flight. Even so, contract damages will be limited. Thousands, not millions.
How Much Money Will David Dao Make From United Airlines?
Before or after the punitive damages award?
On another thread someone claimed to have UAL contacts, and had heard that 10,000,000 had been offered and rejected. Dao’s lawyers are thinking big.
The United Airlines and the City of Chicago would both be named as defendants in the suit.
If Dao sues United and then later sues the City of Chicago over the same incident, I'm almost certain that any damages he gets from the city would be offset by whatever money he gets from United.
100K and free airfare for life.
I’m sure that introducing Dr Doa’s face to the armrest was a legitimate police tactic.
His lawyer can file whatever way he wants.
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