Posted on 04/13/2017 11:44:28 PM PDT by SteveH
Like all airlines, United has a very specific (and lengthy!) contract for carriage outlining the contractual relationship between the airline and the passenger. It includes a familiar set of provisions for when a passenger may be denied boarding (Rule 25: Denied Boarding Compensation).
When a flight is oversold, UA can deny boarding to some passengers, who then receive compensation under specific guidelines. However, Dao was not denied boarding. He was granted boarding and then involuntarily removed from the airplane. What does the contract say about that?
It turns out that the contract has a specific rule regarding Refusal of Transport (Rule 21), which lays out the conditions under which a passenger can be removed and refused transport on the aircraft. This includes situations where passengers act in a disorderly, offensive, abusive, or violent manner, refuse to comply with the smoking policy, are barefoot or not properly clothed, as well as many other situations.
There is absolutely no provision for deplaning a seated passenger because the flight is oversold.
(Excerpt) Read more at newsweek.com ...
lol
Newsweak.
Pretty much settles it. Whatever they say, the opposite is true.
Well, technically Newsweek just picked up the article from law blog.
The writer is a professor of law at Cornell Law School.
ok that one is over the top.
lol
That was an excellent, comprehensive analysis. UA doesn’t have a legal leg to stand on.
That was an excellent, comprehensive analysis. UA doesn’t have a legal leg to stand on.
UA will be settling this one outside of court pretty quickly.
Doubt it will stand up in court, but it explains why they claimed from the start that he was violent and abusive.
“United passengers attorney leaves airline defenseless: Judge Napolitano”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7vIZusL7bCE
The more I learn about the laws in this incident, the less sympathetic I am to the airline.
I still believe the media HYPE regarding it is overblown.... considering the Bundy-Oregon case and the numerous incidents of religious freedom being denied by government agents and the courts....NEVERTHELESS, if all that I have learned in the past 24 hours is true and without contradiction, then UA ought to work really really hard to make friends with this guy.
In this guy’s case....I think he can ask for $250 million in compensation, and United will be eventually forced into the corner and agree to something like $125 million. Course, the guy’s lawyer will take around half of that, but it’s an amazing case that United needs to avoid more publicity and court time.
Once they accepted his ticket and he crossed through the door to enter the plane...they were screwed. If they’d done all this overbooking negotiation before the passengers entered the plane....it would have worked correctly.
$250 million?
I’d be asking for a lot more than that.
They beat the living sh*@ out of the guy.
Then it got shown to the whole world.
Then united defended their actions.
Don’t settle either. Take it all.
The guy beat the living chit out of himself. If you’re going to blow it out of proportion at least get the facts right.
Any physical damage he sustained he did it to himself. Just looking at the video I as a simple observer can see he faked everything and made a drama queen production out of it right down to blood curdling girl screams. Remember, he is a doctor, a criminal felon doctor, but still a doctor so he knows exactly what to do to really make it look good while doing the least actual damage to himself.
The guy/girl, whatever, was angling for a payday right from the start. It will be a sad day in America if he wins a single dime. Not HRC winning the election sad but sad nonetheless.
I can’t believe a single freeper is falling for this charade.
But think about the implications of this. Every time you get overbooked...you refuse to cooperate with them....get beat up by the security guys, and then collect a minimum of $100 million? Everyone will volunteer to get the broken noise...just to collect the hundred million.
With the consensus that seems to be evolving, it isn't just that UA did questionable legal things. There's a societal consensus that UA is out of control in its shabby treatment of customers. The arrogance is baffling. I don't fly anymore. I was shocked that purchasing a seat isn't a real contract anymore. I'd always assumed that "overbooked" was like standby....they knew who they were, and would be the ones who didn't get seats. In this case, the flight wasn't even overbooked. United simply had priorities that involved "screw the passengers".
I've been thinking about this in broader philosophical terms. Many of us have been saying we've become slaves to the globalist elite. This doctor, a man who courageously stood up for his rights, refused to give up his seat. It's on the same level as a woman in the south in the 1955 who refused the indignity of giving up her seat and moving to the back of the bus. And look what happened. Rosa Parks is the symbol for a movement.
I don't think I'm exaggerating. Dr. Dao is inspiration to fight back against out-of-control corporate entities which control way too much of our lives.
Heretic. Don't you know on FR that right are just for the righteous? /s
Moreover the flight was not oversold. There were 4 non-paying employees who showed up at the gate after the plane had boarded. They were not booked, and were supposed to be on standby. Just the culmination of corporate and union culture that encourages employees feel contempt for the customers that pay their salaries.
This is an out-of-control corporation putting its convenience ahead of any concern about the rights or lives of its customers.
If Amtrak ran an airline...
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