Lawyer who represents man dragged from flight now represents mom in airline stroller incident
Thomas Demetrio.
Chicago lawyer Thomas Demetrio now represents a second unhappy airline passenger.
Demetrio announced Monday that he represents a mother shown in an online video crying after an American Airlines flight attendant allegedly yanked a stroller from her, report the Washington Post, AJC.com, the Palm Beach Post and CNBC. Demetrio appeared on both NBC’s Today show and CNBC’s Squawk Box.
According to a passenger who posted the video, the flight attendant “violently” seized the stroller, striking the woman with it and nearly hitting her baby. An American Airlines spokesperson said the double stroller should have been checked, according to this NBC News story.
The woman has not been identified. The video shows her crying and a man in another row demanding to know the name of the flight attendant. When the flight attendant appears, the man tells the attendant, “Hey, bud, you do that to me and I’ll knock you flat.” The flight attendant waves his finger at the man and tells the man to “stay out of this.” The flight attendant then tells the man to go ahead and hit him and to “bring it on.”
The flight attendant has been removed from duty, and the woman and her children were given first-class seats for the rest of their trip.
Demetrio said the latest video is a “microcosm” of the lack of respect given airline passengers. “We need fairness, dignity and being treated right,” Demetrio said on the Today Show. On CNBC, he alleged that that the American flight attendant was “out of control.”
The lawyer also represents David Dao, who was dragged from a flight on United Airlines after he refused to give up his seat. Demetrio said Dao has been hurt both physically an emotionally.
