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Mistreatment of Dr. David Dao a

WAS IT AN IMPLIED CONTRACT?



We have seen much follow-up in the news about the mistreatment of Dr. David Dao as he was forcibly removed from a United Airlines flight. It was also revealed that it was the result of some United Airline employees being sent to Louisville, KY for a work assignment the next day. This brings on many questions. Why did United insist on sending them on this flight? Could they have not gone by bus and still arrive before their work assignment? Or, if it was a matter of preferring that they fly, I suspect that there were many options such as flying to Cincinnati or some other airfield that was within easy bus travel to Louisville. However, I suspect that this was a tradition or policy of the airline: Airline employees fly instead of using land transportation. If so, then one must wonder how often this happens. However, there were no doubt other options.
What is significant to me is that Dr. Dao was seated on the plane and may have been belted. Whether he was belted in the seat is unknown to me but I do know that he was belted by the "peace officers" who forced him off the plane! This "belting" resulted in a broken nose and the loss of two teeth. Decades ago, while I was in technical school, there was a class in Business Law. It was designed for students who might open an electronics shop and gave real examples of how they were to act in that business. One class opened the discussion of what was called "Implied Contracts." The Implied Contract can take many forms. It is what may be seen as an unspoken agreement between a customer and a business. The example I remember best was this: A man is traveling by bus and thinks he has enough time to get a haircut in the shop located in the bus station. He goes in and waits his turn. When he went to the barber's chair, he sat down and while the barber was getting ready to cut his hair, the bus station loudspeaker system announces that the man's bus at the gate and is loading. He suddenly jumps up and heads for the door. The barber challenges him, demanding the price of a haircut. Under the Implied Contract, the man left the chair through no fault of the barber and under this legal formality, the barber was in his rights to charge and expect payment of the standard fee. Sure, the barber could have easily let the man go to his bus but since he demanded payment, the [potential] customer was expected to pay, legally. The lecture was to impress that a fixed "checking fee" should be in place and if a customer leaves the device at the shop for checking, the fee must be paid. I saw this later and the compensation was if the customer decides to have the device repaired, the checking fee is voided.

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Agreements and contracts are not one-party understandings. They are agreements between two or more parties

If Dr. Dao had gone on the plane and took his seat but suddenly decided to leave the plane, for reasons other than sickness I suspect that he'd still be obligated to pay for the seat. The airline could possibly change the ticket for a fee, perhaps, but a full refund is doubtful lest it be used like a Walmart return merely to get the refund. The way this is handled is no doubt spelled out in the fine print on the ticket or in the "Conditions of Purchase" in the airline's literature or advertisements. However, this is not what happened, the doctor did not suddenly decide to cancel his flight. The doctor informed them that he was a doctor and had patients [the following day] that expected him to see them. I also heard on the TV that three other passengers volunteered to leave the plane but rather than open this possibility/can of worms in the future, the airline apparently decided to make sure Dr. Dao walk their plank. Dr. Dao sat down on the plane and breaking the "Implied Contract" is effectively what we have in this case. But Dr. Dao did not break the contract! It was broken by United Airlines. Agreements and contracts are not one-party understandings. They are agreements between two or more parties. The Law applies equally to both companies doing business and their customers. Or it should be!

The "Contract" was not broken by Dr. Dao but by United Airlines

Most air travel people know that airlines that overbook can make adjustments such as paying for overnight lodging and providing transportation to/from a hotel. The first time it happened to me, I was on an overbooked flight from Amsterdam to Chicago O'Hare several years ago. I later regretted not signing in earlier. The situation has changed, apparently. It was not a matter of who arrived late for signing in, they went for taking off passengers after they had been seated. Was it because they left until the last-minute for arrangements of company employees' transportation? I was surprised that United Airlines used a "formula" for determining who was to be "bumped" instead of filling the plane and cutting off any stragglers. I was compensated when I was bumped and the delay did not affect me personally. However, I'm not a doctor with patients awaiting me in a specified timeframe. What happened to Dr. Dao is probably not typical of all airports or airport locations. The lawsuit brought on by Dr. Dao is in the district local to Chicago. Therefore, it is probably better to be focused on the place where it happened so compensations and corrections may be made there with United Airlines and thus be an example to them and to other airlines and airport management offices. Call it a legal precedent, if you will, but this may well be the best approach. The "Contract" was not broken by Dr. Dao but by United Airlines. This should not be ignored. The airline was apparently more concerned about company business than about their paying customers. Let's hope UAL does not have to be forced by Law to make adjustments and changes. Passengers' dollars will be the most noticeable incentive, by UAL, for any future actions.


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Bob Lunsford -- Bio and Archives

Mr. Lunsford is a retired DoD telecommunications engineer, linguist and world traveler now living in eastern Kentucky. Still active in radio communications, he has several books copyrighted, one of which is now in final process of publication. He is politically motivated and, as much as possible, politically active.


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