Man Says United Airlines Employees Pushed Him to the Ground in Lawsuit

3 minute read

Another day, another public relations mess for United Airlines.

Robert Tigner, 73, is suing the airline and two employees after allegedly being shoved to the ground by a United worker in 2015, CNN reports. Although the incident occurred two years ago, security footage of the event was published by KPRC News on Tuesday.

Tigner claims he was shoved in front of a check-in counter at a Houston airport, according to CNN, which also reported that he suffered “several injuries.” To help cover his medical costs, Tigner is now demanding more than $1 million for the airline.

According to a complaint filed in a Texas court on June 7, as obtained by CNN, Tigner claims he received an “illegible” boarding pass, and tried many times to re-print it. A United representative told him to proceed to security with the boarding pass as-is, but when he got there, a TSA agent turned him away because the boarding pass was indecipherable.

Tigner then returned to the boarding area, according to CNN, and approached United employees Alejandro Anastasia and Lanthe Phillips-Allred for assistance. But the two allegedly refused to help him, and also “laughed” and “cursed” at Tigner, according to CNN.

The complaint then alleges that Anastasia “suddenly, unexpectedly and violently injured” Tigner by shoving him to the ground, CNN reports. It also claims Phillips-Allred “failed to properly assist” him. As CNN notes, Tigner can bee seen lying on the floor in the security footage while the two United employees, as well as other passengers, do nothing to help. Later on, a woman comes to his aid.

Anastasia was later charged with a felony assault and was fired from United, CNN reports.

In the two years following the ordeal, Tigner claims he has been trying file a claim with United, but to no avail. It was after he saw footage of Dr. David Dao, the man who was forcibly removed from a United aircraft in April, that he chose to take legal action, according to CNN.

In a statement to CNN, a United spokesperson said that the employees’ conduct: “does not reflect our values or our commitment to treat all of our customers with respect and dignity.”

The spokesperson continued: “We are taking a thorough look into what happened here and reaching out to our customer to profusely apologize for what occurred and to make this right.”

A United spokesperson was not immediately available for comment when contacted by TIME.

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