Originally Posted by
flash8
...My bet, six figure settlement and gag order, United will be beating a path to his hospital bed with contract and check in hand.
A mere six figure settlement seems less than certain, considering the video documentation and other circumstances. E.g, the Chicago PD has previously had to pay $22.5 million in a misconduct case where the victim was mistreated but not physically assaulted by law enforcement:
Chicago to pay $33 million to settle 2 cases of police misconduct - tribunedigital-chicagotribune
We don't know the extent of injuries to Dr. Dao when law enforcement slammed his head into the armrest -- only that there was blood everywhere requiring a cleanup team before the plane could depart.
About 20,000 people in the US die every year from falls in the home, many where their head strikes a wall, a table or other object. That's from just falling down, not because they were thrown down.
This could have actually been much worse. Dr. Dao could have been killed or permanently disabled. Even worse scenarios than that were possible. Imagine if it was his wife being slammed around, and if instead a diminutive elderly man he was a hulking ex-marine? He sees his wife slammed against an armrest, knocked out and laying in a pool of blood. It doesn't take much imagination to envision various escalation steps which would lead to further tragedy.