Topslide6
There is a hell of a lot of conjecture in what you've said, although you did say as much. The thought that this women was some sort of snob with an axe to grind seems a bit far fetched personally.
Indeed, it would be - if I had said that but I did not. I said something else entirely.
Sorry but I find it very hard to believe that a crew, and ultimately a Captain, would offload a group of passengers on the say so of another for no good reason. In fact, I find the whole idea ludicrous.
Often in my life, work and social, I have seen a simple act miscontrued. The next person takes it up as given and you have Chinese Whispers. Bear in mind that crew (of all categories) are under great pressure to get the flight away on time. If they are presented with a single female that is (apparently) behaving strangely and ten Scottish men (apparently) behaving strangely - which is going to be presumed the guilty party?
When similar sorts of problems have been discussed in here before, we have heard that cabin crew will often take the problem to the Captain for resolution but the Captain must rely upon their representation of the problem. If the CC - for what ever reason - have misunderstood the situation, the Captain will start off with the wrong information.
Further, if the Captain is too busy to come out and get embroiled in a boarding dispute and decides to accept the advice of the senior CC and instruct them to do as they think best but, crucially, now with his authority ...?? This kind of misunderstanding by people under pressure can happen so easily and must happen every day.
Therefore, if the client considers themselves to be the injured party, then they must go to court. As I say, not just threaten. The airline will only respond when hard money and it's public reputation is at risk. Perhaps, not even then.