Originally Posted by
GUWonder
Not sure why you are asking such questions given what was already mentioned, but the answer is again indicated below:
Passport's normal wear, as mentioned in the OP, was confirmed by the Italian consulate, and yet the airline rep was making an issue of the normally worn passport accepted by the Italian and US governments.
1. Based on the OP, it looks like the Italian consulate said "this is normal wear" AFTER the person was denied boarding. If the passport was so banged up that the passenger went to the Italian consulate prior to boarding the flight, to check if his passport was in an acceptable condition, then he could have gotten some sort of additional documentation from the consulate, or a temporary passport.
2. It doesn't really matter what CBP says, they're not in charge of admission to the EU. They might be a data point of what a reasonable border security agent might say, but that's about it.
3. It comes down to a judgment call by the KLM agent. To get compensation, the passenger would have to show that the KLM agent's actions were unreasonable.
OP, your friend should probably file for compensation, but the case won't be a slam dunk by any means.