Retired NFL star Terrell Davis was escorted off a United Airlines flight in handcuffs after a flight attendant accused him of “hitting” him. United has apologized, the flight attendant has been sidelined, but Davis is now suing for “irreparable harm” to his reputation.
Retired NFL Star Terrell Davis Is Suing United Airlines
I first wrote about this incident last week. To review:
Davis and his family were traveling from Denver (DEN) to Orange Country, California (SNA) on United Airlines on Saturday, July 13, 2024. During the beverage service, he asked a flight attendant for a cup of ice for his son.
The flight attendant did not respond, moving past their row.
Davis turned and purportedly tapped the flight attendant on his arm to try to get his attention.
But the flight attendant “snapped” and yelled out, “Don’t hit me!”
The flight attendant quickly bolted down the aisle toward the front of the plane. Davis did not see him again for the remainder of the flight.
But when the plane arrived at John Wayne Airport in Orange County, “The pilot asked all passengers to remain seated” and six law enforcement officials boarded the aircraft. Davis was immediately placed in handcuffs and led off the aircraft.
Shortly thereafter, Davis was “cleared of any wrongdoing,” noting “the agents profusely apologized” and offered “to support me and my family in any way possible.”
United also apologized and even suspended the flight attendant while it investigated.
Meanwhile, Davis has made rounds on major media telling his story.
Even so, his attorney has released of his arrest onboard and promises to file a lawsuit against United Airlines:
This video confirms the harrowing tale of multiple law enforcement agents, including the FBI, boarding the plane and apprehending a shocked, terrified, humiliated, and compliant Mr. Davis in front of his wife, Tamiko, minor children, and more than one hundred passengers. The rationale behind the United Airlines employee’s deceitful or inaccurate report extends far beyond a mere ice request or innocent tap on the shoulder. This is why we will be filing a lawsuit because only through legal proceedings can we uncover the truth and make United Airlines answer for the systemic shortcomings that culminated in this traumatic incident, causing irreparable harm and enduring suffering for the Davis family.
The video does show him being handcuffed. Davis told CBS, “The agent walks up to me, and he leans over and whispers, ‘Don’t fight it,’ and he put the cuffs on me.”
Based on everything we know, it seems there is absolutely no excuse for the conduct against Davis. But I’m not sure what “irreparable harm and enduring suffering” was caused Davis and his family. There was momentary indignity and yes, I do think United should make it right.
But “irreparable harm” to his reputaiton? That does not seem to be the case. Quite the contrary, it seems that he has appeared on every broadcast and cable network who will listen to him, and no one is questioning his version of events. Quite the opposite of irreparable harm, that seems to have helped burnish his image and notoriety.
Ultimately, my opinion does not matter: I’m just reporting that Davis is now suing. But it seems to me the only reputation harmed through this incident is United’s…
> Read More:NFL Star Hauled Off United Airlines Flight In Handcuffs After Incident With Flight Attendant
“But I’m not sure what “irreparable harm and enduring suffering” was caused Davis and his family.”
Really???
Have you ever gotten falsely arrested in front of hundreds of people including your own wife and kids?!?!
Do you understand that little kids look up to cops as heroes and when their “hero” arrests their father there is terrible harm done?
I remember getting a fine for not wearing a mask and that itself was extremely embarrassing…
I’m happy that Davis is suing but the real one who should pay is the FA.
@Moe … +1 , United called the police and caused the false arrest , so United ought to apologize and pay .
United caused the whole thing .
The FA could have simply brought the ice , no ? Or replied he is “busy” ? Rather than accusing the pax ?
Appears the was absurdly accused . Also appears that United is at fault for the drama with the police . Didn’t the pilot tell the FA that he is “busy flying the plane right now” ?
At the same time , everyone ought to work on getting a sense of humour .
I don’t mind this. Anything to reign in the thug like FA’s in this day and time is warranted. After getting the stupid mask warning because of having a homemade bandana that didn’t do anything down long enough to use my inhaler, despite multiple doctors notes and proof of my medical condition, I will not side now, or ever, with the FA cartel. They are, in my view, just unionized thugs.
Spot on Brandon. This is what happens in a world of weak men Masculinity is not a crime
C’mon Matthew dont they teach you what an arrest is in law school? He was not arrested he was detained, very big difference. If he was arrested he would of been booked and processed in jail or issued a citation in lieu of detention. At least get it right instead of putting a click bait title to make more $$$ esp when your a lawyer and know the difference.
Law enforcement did what they should of. They got a report of a violent person, assualting flight crew, well within their rights and for their safety detained him. They investigated the alleged crime and released him after they found out it was BS.
Now i do agree the whole situation was BS. The FA should be fired. Quite frankly, the police should of arrested the FA for a false police report. Im sure due to United /airport politics is why that didnt happen.
Mattthew, is this correct as poster states:
There was only a detention and no arrest?
And you are a lawyer?
If yes to both, please explain your headline. I follow you closely, but if the answer to both these questions is yes I will not return.
I am sure his children understood that distinction. If you are taken away in handcuffs, most people will assume you are arrested.
It’s “should have”, not “should of”.
Should probably get that right when you’re castigating the author for playing fast and loose with arrest vs detained.
I’d like to hear your similar story of getting falsely arrested by cops and FBI in front of hundreds of people. Certainly you are relaying your judgement on his shame from a place of commonality, right?
Lol I wouldn’t be surprised if you got some miles to write this defense piece for United
fire the captain as well
It is time captains are held responsible for automatically taking the word of lying FAs
Obviously we don’t know the details BUT…
A plausible scenario is that the over dramatic FA calls cockpit exaggerating the situation and the Captain, not wanting to appear biased, complies with the request to call the police.
Again…I’m making assumptions but you can guess which over dramatic demographic the Captain didn’t want to be biased against.
still, when the FA is clearly wrong (like in the case of Matthew making up her own rules), and blindly takes that FAs word, the captain should also be standing in the unemployment line next to the FA
That will quickly stop power tripping FAs
Anyone detained by police generally has their reputation damaged. When you factor in the fact he is not a normal person… he remains a public figure as a NFL Hall of Famer, one of the greatest Denver Broncos ever and a prominent local and fringe national talking head on TV that relies on his good reputation to continue endorsement deals and paid public appearances, I’d say any entity or person that threatened any of this unjustly is asking to be sued.
I also like the fact that the man is smart with his money. His net worth is estimated to be $14M online. I’d guess that to be low. In any case, the man still flies coach. Not business…. or first…. not private…. he flies coach. Good role model all around.
Anyone detained by police generally has their reputation potentially damaged.
When you factor in the fact he is not a normal person… he remains a public figure as a NFL Hall of Famer, one of the greatest Denver Broncos ever (most recently included in the local Denver Broncos Mt. Rushmore) and a prominent local and fringe national talking head on TV (ie he’s an analyst on NFL Network) that relies on his good reputation to continue endorsement deals and paid public appearances, I’d say any entity or person that threatened any of this unjustly is asking to be sued.
I also like the fact that the man is smart with his money. His net worth is estimated to be $14M online. I’d guess that to be low. In any case, the man still flies coach. Not business…. or first…. or private…. he flies coach. Good role model all around.
Detained – when I am pulled over for a moving violation. Arrested – when cuffs are placed on me.
Cuffs ≠ Arrest
Isn’t this semantics, to a degree? Arrest is from the Latin/French meaning to stop. Makes me think of the “Arret” stop signs in the French-speaking world.
“But it seems to me the only reputation harmed through this incident is United’s…” as it should be, and more. They really screwed the pooch on this one. Both the FA and captain went too far. They need to be held accountable. I would be furious if it happened to me.
The Captain was likely in a no win situation.
Possibly. But whatever was said to company prior to landing and their interaction with law enforcement lead to this egregious action. They could have just as easily questioned him in the jet bridge or at the gate rather than hauling him off in hand cuffs. Where was the purser in all of this? Did they talk to this nutjob FA to put the claim in some sort of perspective?
Who knows if he’ll get anything in a settlement. If it were me I would be pissed! And at least I’d be dragging the companies name through the mud for what they did.
I’m making an assumption but I suspect it’s “zero tolerance” policy (in cooperation with the union) that dictates the procedures when a pax allegedly assaults a crew member.
The flight attendant committed the crime here by interfering with a commercial flight and making false report if what’s stated here is true. Where are his charges? The Captain also is 100% culpable for making a false report without verifying the situation. Pilots automatically taking the side of flight attendants without verifying claims is atrocious. The Feds also committed a crime by falsely detaining someone. Just following orders, procedure, or an illegitimate law is not a valid excuse. Handcuffing someone because of a claim made by one party without independent witness confirmation or obvious signs of physical injury doesn’t fly in a sane world. Flight attendants and pilots are treated like minorities nowadays where they are automatically believed if they make an allegation despite how implausible it is or untrue.
Flight attendants in the U.S. really on average have become garbage. Suing shareholders of an airline doesn’t change anything. Until individual pilots and flight attendants are personally held accountable for their actions as well as the police/feds, nothing will change because it’s not their money or freedom.
Good for him. I hope he gets millions.
I’m reminded of a story I read about a newspaper personal ad back in 2009 in China where someone wrote “remember what happened in Tiananmen Square” 20 years ago! The editors reacted with horror when it was published and confronted the young, low paid woman who cleared it and it turned out she didn’t know what had happened because she had never been taught in school about it and her parents never told her.
In 1984, Winston Smith’s job is managing media releases keeping in mind the state narrative of what is not to be presented yet also needing to know what the secret “official” narrative is: “Doublethink”.
What happens, though, when someone is employed in a media or service job and isn’t, or can’t be trained, in “doublethink?”
Cops, FA’s, managers, etc. in authority should know, at least if they’re smart, that if they come across a protected minority (wink, not a non-protected one) and they’re jerks or even can be seen as jerks, they’ll be assumed to be racist. But at the same time, they are told to treat EVERYONE equally and the training materials they receive do not say “go easy on the protected groups because they tend to be lawsuit happy and avoid confrontation with them” because THAT would be construed itself as racist.
I chuckle about the alleged damage to reputation: An African American man complaining about racism in the media: That is just so harmful to his reputation! It’s like the harm that Rosa Parks suffered by intentionally getting arrested and then reporting it to the press. Standing up against the possibility of racism, he’s suffered so badly!
That said, the FA appeared to have clearly engaged in behavior that is unethical and possibly illegal and should be disciplined. But how to train FA’s to avoid these incidents in the future? Train them to treat ALL passengers with dignity and respect? Or pay some overpriced “consultants” to teach them the lingo of how to treat those in the special categories with dignity and respect?
It is unfortunate when non Whites bring up racial allegations because they are almost always unfounded. Flight attendants are routinely bad and abusive to everyone as are cops. Someone making racial allegations naturally will cause a natural reflex away from that person’s perspective and of course rational people are less likely to believe someone who plays the race card.
Wonder if the FA now will try to get early retirement/disability for “emotional distress”?
@Derrk
Fire the captain?? Wow. I think you lack sophistication. The captain was just doing his job. Protecting the safety of the aircraft, cabin crew and passengers. If he received bad information it’s better to error on the side of safety.
Passenger is overreacting. A bad situation but not a crime snd not the end of the world
That’s a massive load of BS and you know it
Doing his job, kicking a pax off for no reason?
That is theft of services
quit making excuses
Fire the FA and make him pay. Davis is in every right to sue.