Originally Posted by
strix
It's fairly straight forward:
It is fairly safe to assume that there was a legal contract of service between the man and UAL, or UAL would not have issued him a boarding pass and he would never have made it onto the plane. It is reasonable to assume that UAL should fulfil its part of the exchange of consideration (ie transport to his destination) because the man paid his money (his part of the exchange of consideration). This is basic contract law.
Unless good cause can be shown that UAL acted within its CoC and the provisions of 14 CFR §250 — and the burden is on UAL (as the party to have breached contract) to prove that it did so — it is reasonable to assume that what transpired was unlawful and/or a breach of contract.
I have seen no such evidence, and I am not inclined to give UAL the benefit of the doubt until I do.
Let us suppose for a moment United had the contractual right to require him to leave the plane. By refusing to do so, he would then be in breach. However, this situation is also straightforward. There is no provision of contract law that allows you to enforce your rights against the other party by assaulting them.