“They all look alike.” A new lawsuit claims that United Airlines booted the wrong passenger off of a flight after a diversion just because she was Asian. They meant to kick off the other Asian woman who had been seated seven rows ahead of her.
On August 24, 2024 United flight 1627 from Las Vegas to Washington Dulles diverted to Baltimore as thunderstorms and hail shut down Dulles airport. The plane was parked on the ground at BWI for five hours, and passengers weren’t permitted off the aircraft.
In an incident flagged by Paddle Your Own Kanoo, a group of realtors who had traveled to Vegas wound up the focus of issues onboard during the diversion. A male passenger in this group began having medical issues, sweating and clutching his chest. A flight attendant allegedly dismissed it as “just a panic attack.” However one of the realtors traveling with him, Christine Kim, spoke up over the crewmember’s dismissiveness.
The eventually aircraft deplaned, and then reboarded an hour later to finally make the 45 mile flight to Washington Dulles.
During the reboarding of the aircraft, United agents stopped Jacquelyn Chiao – Kim’s business partner who had been sitting seven rows behind her staying quiet reading her kindle during the drama – and informed her that she was barred from the flight. The flight attendant had alleged they’d been pushed.
Yet Chiao says in her lawsuit that she never left her seat. The only similarity between the alleged assailant and Chiao are that they are both Asian women. Three co‑workers refused to abandon Chiao, and all four were kicked off the flight and escorted out of the airport by police.
The lawsuit identifies an off‑duty United Airlines employee as a witness that has offered to testify on their behalf (but this employee is not yet named in legal documentions out of fear of retaliation).
The suit alleges that crew afailed to note the seat number of the passenger they were complaining about, or take a more detailed description than “Asian female.” The complaint, filed March 5th, demands compensatory and punitive damages.
The airline, for its part, seeks partial dismissal in a 12(b)(6) motion alleging failure to state a claim (assuming everything in the suit is true, that there’s nothing actionable against the airline).
Earlier this year United settled a lawsuit over anti-Asian discrimination, where a Denver-based catering employee reported being assaulted and called anti-Asian slurs by a supervisor. And most famously United Airlines paid out a massive settlement after having Asian doctor David Dao dragged off an bloodied.
Last year, eight black men who were not traveling together and did not know each other were removed from an American Airlines flight over an alleged ‘body odor’ issue. American settled the ensuing lawsuit, fired the crew involved, and implemented new procedures against removing passengers from planes.
If the facts are as alleged in the suit – and United has not yet filed a substantive response – then crew basically concluded that ‘any Asian woman will do’ and the extensive efforts undertaken by the airline in 2017 need to be revisited.
LMFAO
if i am reading what gary wrote accurately, this is free money for the firm that wins the lotto to represent all of the persecuted….. i’d open at $1M for each of the 5 aggrieved customers and settle for low 6 figures or see you in court
14 CFR § 259.4(c)
Airlines are required to offer passengers the opportunity to deplane during a tarmac delay at a U.S. airport after three hours for domestic flights and four hours for international flights. There are exceptions to this requirement, including when the pilot-in-command determines that deplaning would compromise safety or security, or if air traffic control advises against returning to a suitable disembarkation point due to potential disruption of airport operations.
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produce factual proof of the exceptions or pay up
Dr. Dao 2.0! #UA3411
The biggest problem is the trashiness of the United staff personalities and backgrounds.
for #teamgary reading this, always carry a printed copy of this with you, and highlight each of the transgressions during your entrapment, and insist on handing it to the captain on the way out while you are being filmed by someone just behind you; if the door is closed or an fa or co-pilot try to intervene and ask you to give it to them instead of the captain, don’t do it, you made the attempt to notify the captain of the violations of us law, and you have it on film
copy/paste/search the following to get to the exact text of the statute
law cornell edu cfr text 14 259.4
Sigh…here we go again with 1/2 truths and lots of lies. I used to work for United and I’m the first to criticize them after they became Continental in 2010 BUT, this is hogwash. First off the FA more than likely described the shoving incident and the perp as an Asian woman/man/whatever and the gate agent more than likely got the wrong person based upon the description. Read my lips…NO DISCRIMINATION! The witness described the peep! So if the FA said red hair then it’s recrimination against all red heads! Give me a break and stop being DAs, ok? Now let’s talk about the “good doctor” Dao incident. It was a United Express, now what that means? It was a different airline altogether. It was Chicago O’Hare rent-a-cop security, not the airline’s. Dou agreed to leave the airplane and was walking up the jetway when he changed his mind. The deal was done. We forcibly pushed back onto the jet when…after you deplane you are not allowed to reboard. It’s law! Security was called to deal with it and they did in their own way, love it or hate it. UAL had absolutely nothing to do with this but they have deeper pockets. Dr Dao was found guilty by the states medical board of exchanging prescriptions for sexual encounters with male patients. He had his medical license suspended. After 10 years he was able to practice again but only see patients with a chaperone present. That’s the “good doctor” Dao. Doesn’t anyone research before displaying their ignorance in their posts?
Your last paragraph is exceedingly well said, Gary !!! “If the facts are as alleged in the suit – and United has not yet filed a substantive response – then crew basically concluded that ‘any Asian woman will do’ and the extensive efforts undertaken by the airline in 2017 need to be revisited”
@ Gary — All MAGATS look alike. Throw them all off!
If you are going to throw passengers off the flight, minimally know the seat number! How difficult is that one small effort to identity them? Also being removed after so many hours was probably a relief. Waiting for the UA response.
A case of mistaken identity equates to an attempt to hit the judicial lottery.
Typo in story “an bloodied”
When the plane is stopped on the tarmac….can they open the doors and let fresh air into the plane?