Attorneys and the family of the doctor who was bloodied after he was removed from a United Airlines flight are holding a press conference starting April 13.
David Dao’s legal team and a member of his family are reportedly going to address a lawsuit that will be filed against United for unjustly causing injury to the Kentucky doctor when security officials removed him from flight 3411.
The presser begins at 11 a.m. EDT from Chicago. To watch a live stream of the press conference, hit play at the top of the page.
On April 9, Dao was one of four paid customers randomly selected to re-book his United flight due to crew members needing to be on the flight.
Security officers from the Chicago Aviation Police were called to the scene to escort Dao off of the plane. Upon arrival, Dao said he would not exit the flight voluntarily, and a male officer forcefully grabbed his arm and yanked him into the aisle.
When Dao was being tugged at, his face smashed an arm rest and his mouth was bloodied. The Images of his limp body being dragged out down the aisle drew global criticism. Eventually, Dao made his way back onto the airplane and ran toward the back looking disoriented with blood streaming from his mouth.
United CEO Oscar Munoz responded shortly after the video went viral and said that he was saddened by the nature in which Dao was taken off of the flight.
Dao recovered at a hospital in Chicago from his injuries after the incident. A couple days later, he formally filed a lawsuit against United.
The legal document represents the first public action in the case and was filed in Cook County Circuit Court.
The petition says that Dao was scheduled to fly from Chicago’s O’Hare airport to Louisville, Kentucky.
“After being duly processed by the ticket agent, checked in by the attendant, and seated in his assigned passenger seat, Petitioner was forcibly dragged and removed from the said aircraft by City employees, sustaining personal injury,” the legal filing says.
The respondents were listed as the city of Chicago, which operates the airport, and United Airlines, which operated Flight No. 3411.
The lawsuit is asking in the court order that the following be preserved and protected: All surveillance video recordings depicting the boarding of the plane’s passengers on April 9, 2017, the day in question.
The cockpit voice recording, passenger list, employee and crew list, all incident reports prepared by the respondents, the protocol of United Airlines “in force and effect for the removal of passengers from commercial aircraft” and “the personnel files of the Aviation Department police who removed Petitioner from the plane.”
The petition, which was signed by attorney Thomas A. Demetrio, says, the preservation of the items is needed because Dao “currently has no access to them and believes that serious prejudice will inure to the Petitioner if said relief is not granted.”
The other attorneys involved in the petition are Edward G. Willer and Stephen L. Golan.