That would be where United screwed up. At no point have I said United was without fault. Their actions were legal, but stupid. Both parties handled this as poorly as humanly possible.
They’ll probably wind up paying him out of court because in the end winning in court is bad PR. It’ll bring this whole thing back up again years after it’s been forgotten, and nobody sympathizes with big companies so when they do win in court that very act generates ill will. It’s kind of sad this guy is gonna get a fat check for acting like a baby, but that’s how it goes.
I've noticed a great number of posters here conflate "breach of contract" with "illegal." Just saying, I bet your remark is met with objection.
I know what you mean, I think, that UAL can remove Dao from its plane with no penalty other than that associated with breach of contract.
“Their actions were legal, but stupid. Both parties handled this as poorly as humanly possible.”
Absolutely. United could have simply upped the ante to get another passenger off the plane or had that last remaining flight crew take a later flight. ANYTHING but eject a passenger.
Dao, of course, was a typical liberal child that threw a temper tantrum.