Boy, 9, Forgotten At O’Hare Airport

Our Chicago Injury Attorneys were shocked to hear of the 9 year old boy who was stranded at O’Hare for 8 hours due to a United Airlines employee oversight.

Boy, 9, Left Stranded At O’Hare For 8 Hours

CHICAGO (Sun-Times Media Wire)

A 9-year-old boy, traveling alone and heading home to Canada, ended up stranded for eight hours at O’Hare Airport because a United Airlines employee forgot to get him out of the airline’s child-care center and bring him to the gate for his connecting flight, the Sun-Times is reporting.

And what was United Airlines’ response?

“He missed his flight — we put him on the next available flight,” Megan McCarthy, a spokeswoman for Chicago-based United, confirmed Monday.

“He missed his flight” – wow. Our trial lawyers feel that United Airlines has missed the point.

So, can the boy sue? Our Chicago Lawyers research this a little bit and found this story for some guidance:

Ark. woman’s lawsuit against airline dismissed

A federal appeals court has upheld the dismissal of an Arkansas woman’s lawsuit claiming she was illegally imprisoned on an American Airlines plane for 9 1/2 hours.

The 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals agreed with a federal judge that the airline’s conduct did not amount to false imprisonment as claimed in the lawsuit by Catherine Ray. She was among the passengers stranded on the tarmac in Austin, Texas, on Dec. 29, 2006 when the flight from Oakland, Calif., to Dallas was rerouted because of bad weather.

One could argue that being stuck on an airplane is far worse than being stuck at an airport. Interesting legal challenge to say the least.