Why the downvote? 1. Unites flight was not overbooked. They wanted to put some of their own employees on this flight. This has nothing to do with overbooking.

Why the downvote? 1. Unites flight was not overbooked. They wanted to put some of their own employees on this flight. This has nothing to do with overbooking. 2. Law stats that you can deny boarding if a flight is overbooked. Let someone on board and then throw him off the plane was definitely not within the scope of the law, even should the flight have been overbooked. Try to tell this to the authorities, "we let more people on board than seats available and had to remove some..". Good luck with that. So based on 1 and 2 the airline was wise to settle with the guy ASAP since throwing him off the plane had nothing to do with overbooking, nor was it in any way covered by law. Proof that you are an idiot. Downvote this :-)