United Airlines agreed to pay $30 million to the family of a quadriplegic passengerafter a landing incident who left him in a vegetative state.
The settlement with the family of 26-year-old passenger Nathaniel Foster Jr. was made public Tuesday in federal court in San Francisco, and reached after a day of trial. It follows the mistreatment of the passenger, who used a wheelchair, ventilator and tracheal tube, as he and his family disembarked from a February 8, 2019 United Express flight in Monroe, Louisiana, where they had returned to attend a funeral.
The family said a boarding ramp supervisor pushed Nathaniel Foster “aggressively” And “with force“, causing his body to jerk forward and then slump backward, his feet dragging on the floor. According to the complaint, Nathaniel Foster’s mother asked for help after hearing him whisper “I can not breathe“, but a gate agent laughed and told a surgeon who was offering to help “We take care of it“, which prompted him to leave. Nathaniel Foster then went into cardiac arrest.
Now 26, Foster suffers from brain damage.important“, can neither speak nor eat solid food, according to court documents. “Our top priority is to provide a safe journey for all of our customers, especially those who require additional assistance or a wheelchair.“, United Airlines said in a statement Wednesday. “We are pleased to report that this matter has been resolved“.
Of the 30 million dollars that the family of Nathaniel Foster will receive, approximately 12 million dollars would cover legal costs (for the lawyers therefore) and 3 million dollars of other costs.
