Advice needed - assault on AA flight

Old Jul 9, 2018, 4:43 am
  #46  
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Originally Posted by NYCommuter


I would send a legal demand letter to AA, demanding the person’s name, and let AA know that there will be legal action unless the name is given. This would take “legal intervention” (having a lawyer send the letter), but it would be only about an hour of work by a lawyer.
Without there being an order from a court ordering the disclosure, I cannot imagine that AA will divulge personal information about another passenger
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Old Jul 9, 2018, 5:40 am
  #47  
 
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Originally Posted by Dave Noble
Without there being an order from a court ordering the disclosure, I cannot imagine that AA will divulge personal information about another passenger
Fair point. Then the bullied passenger can take up the issue with AA, and AA can take it up with the bully.
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Old Jul 9, 2018, 6:08 am
  #48  
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Originally Posted by NYCommuter


Fair point. Then the bullied passenger can take up the issue with AA, and AA can take it up with the bully.
I can't imagine that AA would do anything - that the OP keeps using the term "bully" does not mean that the person is. The only report is that the person is accused of elbowing the passenger. Regardless , it seems that the incident is pretty minor with no injury that a law enforcement agency would be likely to do anything about

It seems that the passenger is being sensible and moving on
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Old Jul 9, 2018, 8:01 am
  #49  
 
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Originally Posted by NYCommuter
I would send a legal demand letter to AA, demanding the person’s name, and let AA know that there will be legal action unless the name is given. This would take “legal intervention” (having a lawyer send the letter), but it would be only about an hour of work by a lawyer.
And as we all know, demand letters always work
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Old Jul 9, 2018, 9:32 am
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Originally Posted by Science Goy
And as we all know, demand letters always work
Demand letters definitely do not always work; I'm a lawyer. However, trying one might be a good start.
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Old Jul 9, 2018, 12:54 pm
  #51  
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Originally Posted by NYCommuter
I would send a legal demand letter to AA, demanding the person’s name, and let AA know that there will be legal action unless the name is given. This would take “legal intervention” (having a lawyer send the letter), but it would be only about an hour of work by a lawyer.
An expense that is bound to be wasted. What "legal action" would there be against AA? AA didn't do anything wrong.
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Old Jul 9, 2018, 2:09 pm
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Originally Posted by dgcpaphd
However, he did ask my advice in connection with alerting AA about the attack and the bully.

My friend also told me that if the attack had happened in the United States, rather than in a foreign country as it did, he would have made a formal complaint against the bully.
Didn't the flight crew gave the "friend" a chance to formalize the incident and he didn't take them up on it? Incident reports involving passengers or crew are sometimes completed when a plane isn't actually airborne. This forum just isn't an ideal venue for legitimate legal concerns although, as with many things FT, everyone becomes an instant topic expert when fringe cases like this pop up.

The line of inquiries in this thread "for a friend" just seems odd but it's good to hear that the friend is OK. No price to put on health or at least that seems to be a pretty convincing argument when running away from this guy on the playground:

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Old Jul 9, 2018, 4:45 pm
  #53  
 
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Originally Posted by mvoight
An expense that is bound to be wasted. What "legal action" would there be against AA? AA didn't do anything wrong.
The letter would be a request to disclose the passenger's name. AA may not have done anything wrong but it could still end up in the middle of this if it goes to court. Sounds like it's a moot point, though, based on the responses above.
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Old Jul 9, 2018, 6:23 pm
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I feel terrible about what happened to your friend. I'm surprised there weren't fellow passengers witnessing this who didn't help. Also, most aircraft flying overseas have two aisles and it is easy to cut through the galley to make it to the bathroom.

one time a guy was hanging out in the aisle talking to his friend who was sitting across the aisle from me. His backside was right in my face. After several minutes of this I said something and he turned around and yelled at me asking if I owned the airline. There are a lot of rude people feeling entitled traveling these days.
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Old Jul 9, 2018, 7:48 pm
  #55  
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I'm not convinced that this was on purpose. How many times have you accidentally (seriously) banged into someone rather hard because you were unaware of them being behind you or whatever. Even if it was on purpose (in my opinion-I AM NOT AN EXPERT) I think that the friend gave up any rights to a "lawsuit" when he declined a write up. Why would AA cancel his return? Even IF they did, if this man is a seasoned traveler who is well off, wouldn't he know what to do? That seems like quite an irrational idea that writing up an incident where the man is clearly not at fault would cause him to be stranded in a "foreign county"! What could he possibly stand to gain from suing this guy? As far as I'm concerned, there were no serious injuries that required money to be spent.

The other day, a guy was taking his suitcase out of the overhead bin rather forcefully and it fell on my shoulder and bruised me...he had acted like an a** but I'm sure it wasn't on purpose and even if I thought it was I would never even consider taking legal action. But hey, if the friend has plenty of money and feels like flushing it down the toilet over something like this then who am I to judge? I don't have that kind of money but maybe if I did, I would.

Please don't take this as a lack of sympathy. I am sorry it happened to your friend and I must say that it's quite impressive that he is that old and able to travel by himself.
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Old Jul 9, 2018, 8:33 pm
  #56  
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Originally Posted by jackvogt
I think that the friend gave up any rights to a "lawsuit" when he declined a write up.
NO NO NO NO NO.
He may have a more difficult time collecting evidence but NO RIGHTS ARE GIVEN UP. Why would you think this??? The statute of limitations runs out after you exit the plane?!? Come on.
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Old Jul 9, 2018, 8:37 pm
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Originally Posted by NYCommuter
Demand letters definitely do not always work; I'm a lawyer. However, trying one might be a good start.
Ditto...

And yes, the time honored legal strategy of tossing "stuff" at the wall and seeing what sticks... YIKES!

OP clearly made up her mind as to what "advice" to offer to her friend. Seeking confirmation bias here initially, which some were willing to offer, and then in later posts OP merely argued against those who offered reasonable advice that any action at this point was a complete waste of time and money.
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Old Jul 9, 2018, 9:17 pm
  #58  
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Originally Posted by Lakeviewsteve
snip

I'm surprised there weren't fellow passengers witnessing this who didn't help. Also, most aircraft flying overseas have two aisles and it is easy to cut through the galley to make it to the bathroom.

one time a guy was hanging out in the aisle talking to his friend who was sitting across the aisle from me. His backside was right in my face. After several minutes of this I said something and he turned around and yelled at me asking if I owned the airline. There are a lot of rude people feeling entitled traveling these days.
The incident happened about an hour before landing. It was near the end of a long international flight. A meal had been served and many passengers had left their seat to use the rest room. It so happened the only available restroom was the one being blocked by the bully who elbowed my friend as he tried to pass him.

You reported a first hand experience with encountering a difficult traveler on one of your flights. At least the rude person who yelled at you did not strike you like my friend had happen to him. Your personal experience allows you to relate to the incident more so than other readers of this flyertalk thread.
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Old Jul 9, 2018, 9:38 pm
  #59  
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Originally Posted by jackvogt

I'm not convinced that this was on purpose. How many times have you accidentally (seriously) banged into someone rather hard because you were unaware of them being behind you or whatever. Even if it was on purpose (in my opinion-I AM NOT AN EXPERT) I think that the friend gave up any rights to a "lawsuit" when he declined a write up. Why would AA cancel his return? Even IF they did, if this man is a seasoned traveler who is well off, wouldn't he know what to do? That seems like quite an irrational idea that writing up an incident where the man is clearly not at fault would cause him to be stranded in a "foreign county"! What could he possibly stand to gain from suing this guy? As far as I'm concerned, there were no serious injuries that required money to be spent.

.
"I think that the friend gave up any rights to a "lawsuit" when he declined a write up. Why would AA cancel his return?"

"Lawsuit" - - - - - - Where in the world did that come from?

I never said my friend wanted to file a lawsuit.

My friend's motive for pursuing this incident is to put AA and other authorities on alert to the bully that committed an intentional unprovoked battery of an old man.

"How many times have you accidentally (seriously) banged into someone rather hard because you were unaware of them being behind you or whatever."

It was not accidental. If you read my post, the bully was partially blocking the aisle until he saw my friend try to pass him. Then the bully backed up more to fully block my friend then forcefully elbowed my friend as my friend tried to get past him. That - is an accident? No way!



There is a good possibility the bully has already behaved with violence to others. If so, this case will merely support other possible complaints he has or had against him.

Last edited by dgcpaphd; Jul 9, 2018 at 9:48 pm
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Old Jul 9, 2018, 9:47 pm
  #60  
 
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Originally Posted by dgcpaphd
My friend asked my advice as a a friend, not as a lawyer.

"What happens if your friend acts on your legal advice and ultimately loses (in the process spending tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars)?"

My friend is old and he is rich.

He has outlived his wife and only child.

He will not outlive his money.

Therefore, if he wants to spend some of his money pursuing an injustice such as what happened to him on his flight, I say, good for him.
You can see how many, including myself, took your posts to indicate a litigious response to the incident...

Still, I cannot see AA doing anything with this complaint against another passenger at this point. Crew, maybe? Passenger, most assuredly not.
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