I don't put the burden on the passenger to not book tight connections, because 9 times out of 10 they work out fine. I do exepct passengers to not have unreasonable expectations of perfection in travel at all times.

I also agree that any through-ticketed misconnect should be handled the same whether it was a 3-hour connection or 30 minutes.

I believe that the airlines do provide options to deal with these things. In this case, they reaccommodated the passenger on another flight to a nearby destination, which he accepted or requested. They delivered him to the acceptable destination within a few hours of the original time (surely you don't think that every delay requires compensation?).

If IAD refused a request for a hotel and a ticket on the next flight to HPN, then all bets are off. They screwed up and are responsible. But, if he asked "Isn't there any way to get me home tonight?" or worse demanded to be flown home that night and they said they could fly him to LGA then that's the end, though.