No bee in the bonnet, but I know DOT regulations and United’s contract of carriage.
There is NO legal basis for an award against United whatsoever. There is NO chance United will settle for even a penny. Maybe they will give something for public relations reasons, but that is not a settlement.
I challenge you to describe the legal basis for a case against United.
EVERY airline will call the police if a passenger is asked to leave the plane and they refuse to do so. If there is a problem at that point, it is between the passenger and police. Maybe there is case for complaint against the police, but United here has no fault whatsoever.
EVERY airline involuntarily bumps passengers. Federal regulations specifically allow it is and regulate the regulation granted for it. There is also a contract for your plane ticket that echoes this.
A case can be made that UAL violated their “CoC” which states that any “IDB” offers should happen pre-boarding. In any case they definitely violated “common sense” standards. Much information (2000+ posts) from experienced PAX & crew on the subject here:
Jury....
People tired of being treated like hostages and its people who make up juries not contract writers.
If you really understood the reality of law you would understand that the fine print in contract is overthrown all the time. Consents (which this is a form of) are written to encourage people to think they have no leg to stand on so they will not resist. When it gets to court the companies settle. Just spend a little time looking at the malpractice awards where the consent clearly spells out the risk. If a jury wants to award money they will.
You are confusing someone being asked to leave for cause and someone being asked to leave and then assaulted because an airline wants to save money.