Earlier this week, a Texas man filed a lawsuit against United Airlines over an incident that left him with “physical disfigurement” and “mental anguish” two years ago, Since the filing, surveillance video of the confrontation surfaced, prompting the airline to issue an apology to the man.
Back in July of 2015, a 71-year-old passenger arrived at the United Airline ticket counter to address his concerns about his illegible boarding pass. The man requested a new boarding pass several times but was denied and instructed to take his concerns to the security checkpoint, according to the lawsuit.
However, when TSA rejected his illegible ticket, he was forced to return to the counter where the incident reportedly turned physical.
In the suit, the man says he tried again to receive a new boarding pass, prompting two United employees to step in and take charge. Apparently, they refused to provide him with a new boarding pass, all while laughing and cursing at him. According to the Washington Post, the man then told the employee to “wipe that smile off your face,” prompting the employee to “suddenly, unexpectedly, and violently” injure the man.
According to reports, the employee who put hands on the man was later charged with a felony of injuring an elderly individual. He was also fined and forced apologize and take anger-management classes. In the meantime, the man is demanding $1 million for “severe personal injuries and damages.”
On Wednesday, following the release of the video, the airline released a statement, stating that the employee involved no longer worked for the airline.
“The conduct shown here does not reflect our values or our commitment to treat all of our customers with respect and dignity,” the airline said in a statement. “We are taking a thorough look into what happened here and reaching out to our customer to profusely apologize for what occurred and to make this right,” adding that the company was “disturbed by the completely unacceptable behavior shown in a video of a customer and former United employee.”
