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We Spoke To A US Aviation Lawyer About Compensation For United Airlines Passenger

We Spoke To A US Aviation Lawyer About Compensation For United Airlines Passenger

The victim looks set to get a substantial amount in damages.

Claire Reid

Claire Reid

Earlier this week the shocking footage of Doctor David Dao being dragged from a United Airlines flight went viral.

Images of Dao with a bloody face also turned up online amongst thousands of messages from people outraged at what the airline had done to the 69-year-old man, who had a valid ticket.

It has since been reported that Dao has hired himself two attorneys to take on United, one specialising in personal injury and one specialising in corporate governance.

But what are his rights in this situation and is this likely to go to court?

LADbible spoke to Steve C Marks from Podhurt Orseck, a US law firm that specialises in aviation, complex litigation and class actions to find out about the process ahead for Dr Dao.

Credit:Twitter/@Tyler_Bridges

Steve told LADbible: "He can claim in several areas, from negligence to assault. It was United who reached out for security, so they have full responsibility for what happened. The law would allow for not only compensatory damages but punitive damages, which are intended to punish harmful and wrong conduct.

"The security agents were airport authority, but they were working under the direction of United, so the airline becomes responsible for their conduct. What they did was aggravated assault and battery - if, for example, I tried to do that in a restaurant because I wanted that table I would probably end up in jail."

And, as for a pay out, well, it seems that Dr Dao won't have to worry about flying economy again. Steve said: "This isn't a strictly economic calculation, it's not as though the victim lost his job, it's what's called 'intangible damages' which covers things like pain and suffering. These are subject to a wide range of discretion.


Credit:Twitter/@Tyler_Bridges

"If this went to court and he was very unlucky and got a very conservative jury, then he could be looking at being awarded hundreds of thousands of dollars. However, because of the notoriety of this case it's likely that he would get a jury who had seen what had happened and felt some outrage about it - in that situation he would be looking at tens of millions.

"Especially when it comes to punitive damages; with these types of damages a jury can become more focused on United and what they did wrong, rather than on the damages for the victim."

Steve goes on to tell me that in previous cases, of a similar nature, people haven't received such massive pay-outs, but, because of the media attention this case has had and the way United were perceived to have mishandled it, a jury would turn up angry and are more likely to award higher damages.

However, he also reckons that the matter is likely to be settled out of court, the company will be keen to avoid the additional media attention and it might also be the best option for the victim.

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"United are also into damage control at this point," he said. "I would think they will be doing everything they can right now to sit down and try and work out a reasonable out of court settlement before any litigation gets filed.

"It depends on the emotional status of the complainant, to a degree, because he might be angry and wants to make this a public matter. But that won't work out well for him, he doesn't want this to drag out too much, the public will lose interest.

"The skill here is getting the largest amount, being paid in a relatively short amount of time, while there's still public focus, rather than long-term litigation and a trial. A trial could take over a year to get to court and people would forgive, whereas now there's a lot of pressure for United to get it right.

"In my opinion, now is the right time to get the best result for the victim - as long as it was approached reasonably by both sides. I think there's a high likelihood this will be resolved in the next few weeks. If both parties are smart and reasonable this matter should get resolved in 30 days."

As if potentially paying out millions in damages isn't bad enough, United Airlines has also seen millions knocked off its share price following the incident blowing up on social media. I think it's safe to say United will be hoping to settle this as quickly as possible.

Featured Image Credit: PA/Twitter/@Tyler_Bridges

Topics: United Airlines