Mom dropped the ball, not the airline.
Mom should have anticipated that her daughter would get hungry vas packed snacks.
She did. The problem was it wasn't hot, and her daughter wouldn't eat them.
Here's another article with even more information: http://abcnews.go.com/US/woman-claims-daughter-autism-kicked-off-united-airlines/story?id=30926832
Don't get me wrong: I'm not defending the mother. According to the article I linked above, she KNEW her daughter wouldn't eat room-temperature food. She could have easily coordinated the requirement with the airline, rather than waiting until the problem occurred. Airlines don't carry extra hot meals -- someone in first class had to give up theirs.
But, the mother escalated the situation by threatening that her daughter may get violent. Under those circumstances, the captain had no choice but to land the plane. If the child HAD become violent and someone was injured, the captain would have been held responsible.
Wow... maybe everyone needs to read the article. The mom was trying to prepare,there had been a layover and a nasty “1st Class male attendant” refused to get a simple hot meal to help alleviate the situation when he was asked. Even the paramedics and cops were embarrassed. Sometimes I am truly sad how fellow conservatives pile on to certain situations.