One more for the road, sir?

[Bucky]

CHICAGO, Dec. 17 (UPI) -- A law professor says United Airlines can't be sued for serving wine to a couple that wound up brawling in the customs line at the San Francisco airport.

James Speta told the Chicago Tribune that in the lawsuit filed by the Japanese couple he expected United to ague that the laws that hold bars liable for damages caused by drunken patrons do not apply in international airspace.

Despite such questions, the couple is forging ahead with its lawsuit, the Tribune said Wednesday.

Yoichi Shimamoto and Ayisha are suing over an embarrassing incident in which an intoxicated Yoichi struck his wife six times amid a quarrel while they waited to go through Customs in 2006.

The couple claimed the flight attendants on their long trip from Osaka to the United States kept serving them complimentary glasses of wine when they were well past their limit.

Legal experts said the case would be a slam-dunk if the drinking had occurred in a restaurant or bar; however international law limits airline liability while in international airspace, and might not apply since the Shimamotos' fracas occurred in the airport and not on the plane.

[Ketou]

FFS....
So the couple get pissed and have a donnybrook in the airport which leads to great embarrassment. In order to alleviate said embarrassment they need to pass the blame to someone else...
And if it wasn't international airspace the legal system would support this insanity.....
Well, I suppose if the majority of the world is insane to them that is normality...

[Behan]

The flight attendants were holding guns to their heads forcing them to drink.

Or maybe they were 'wine boarded'.

[kurohinge1]

. . . United Airlines . . . sued for serving wine to a couple that wound up brawling in the customs line at the San Francisco airport.

. . . Yoichi Shimamoto and Ayisha are suing over an embarrassing incident in which an intoxicated Yoichi struck his wife six times amid a quarrel while they waited to go through Customs in 2006.

The couple claimed the flight attendants on their long trip from Osaka to the United States kept serving them complimentary glasses of wine when they were well past their limit . . .

I'm glad they've finally discovered the cause of wife bashing - United Airlines.

[bolt_krank]

Fucking hell - this shit pisses me off.
They should have to pay for it themselves.

[Gilligan]

Clearly it wasn't the guy's fault for continuing to drink the wine, it was United's for giving it to him. And it wasn't his fault for beating the crap out of his wife, it was United's for not divining that he might be the type of person to do such a thing.

This pair of idiots, along with being a perfect poster couple for forced sterilization, is one of the reasons that the cost of flying continues to go up.

I would actually think that a perfect defense would be that while perhaps a bartender should be held accountable for not cutting someone off because it's quite reasonable to assume that the drunk might get into a car and drive, the flight attendants should not be held accountable because it's not reasonable to assume that the drunks going to beat the hell out of his wife, not to mention that flight attendants AREN'T bartenders/wait-staff, etc. But perhaps a more legal minded person here could weigh in on that if they were so inclined.

[wuchan]

not a very strong case considering that United charges $5 a drink.

[Gilligan]

not a very strong case considering that United charges $5 a drink.

I know that Northworst charges $5 a drink on flights between Asia and the US, but I know from personal experience that at least through last March United did not.

[xenomorph42]

not a very strong case considering that United charges $5 a drink.

Ain't it a shame?

[xenomorph42]

I'm glad they've finally discovered the cause of wife bashing - United Airlines.

UA is one of "THE WORST" of the worst. Why that company never folded, is something that always eluded me.

[Iraira]

UA is one of "THE WORST" of the worst. Why that company never folded, is something that always eluded me.

Because they are willing to declare bankruptcy every 3-4 years, reduce their debt, "restructure", and start on the path to the next Chapter 11.

[baka tono]

I was on United recently and it is indeed $6 for a beer or any alcoholic drink for that matter. They also have the price up on their website http://www.unitedairlines.co.jp/core/english/SI/inflight/meals/drinks.html

[wuchan]

Ain't it a shame?

what the fuck is a guy supposed to do on a 14 hour flight to NY if he can't get shitfaced and pass out?

[Samurai_Jerk]

UA is one of "THE WORST" of the worst. Why that company never folded, is something that always eluded me.

Dude, tell me about it. I'm actually at the point where I'm willing to pay more to avoid flying them.

[Kagetsu]

Blame games... This is why Liability is crazy these days... No such thing as common sense...

Crazy... Trip over right in the middle of a concrete slab, and you sue the guy who poured the slab so that its texture was too rough to adequately travel upon.

Fucking responsibility. Fuck this couple in their asses with a barb encrusted court mallet!

[Bucky]

More facts to this idiotic episode::shakeh:

Yoichi Shimamoto is a Japanese man who was charged and sentenced to 18 months probation after beating his wife at the airport in San Francisco in 2006. Shimamoto and his wife sued United Airlines in December 2008, claiming that they served him too much alcohol during his flight from Japan to United States and that the alcohol caused Shimamoto to hit his wife. The abuse happened shortly after the couple stepped off the plane

1. Says he hit his wife because he was too drunk to control himself
2. Says United Airlines served him too much alcohol
3. Bars in United States can be held responsible for harm ther customers cause if they serve too much alcohol, but it is not clear if this applies in international airspace
4. Shimamoto says she was given wine every 20 minutes
5. Trip took place in December 2006
6. Shimamoto hit his wife six times in her face after they stepped of the plane
7. Want United Airlines to pay for his bail, defense, immigration attorneys' fees, loss of income and pain and suffering
8. Was prevented from returning to his home in Japan while waiting for the case to be determined
9. Transferred the probation sentence to Florida because his wife has a home there1

http://www.mahalo.com/Yoichi_Shimamoto

With more here: http://www.chicagotribune.com/travel/chi-wed-overserved-united-uauadec17,0,7796929.story

[Bucky]

:rofl::rofl:

Even more amusing about this case. Apparently Mr.Shimamoto is represented by an attorney by the name of Carl Hayes. Here is a news story related to the attorney. I guess it takes one to know one. Mr. Shimamoto must've needed some "experienced" legal representation.

Published: November 26, 2008

Updated: 11/26/2008 09:26 pm

TAMPA - A lawyer was stunned with a Taser twice this afternoon after he became upset at a Tampa Code Enforcement Board meeting, police say.

Tampa lawyer Carl Roland Hayes, 53, was addressing the board when he became irate and verbally abusive, said Lt. Ronald McMullen of the Tampa Police Department. Officials asked Hayes to calm down, but he did not, McMullen said.

As Hayes was being escorted out of the meeting, he slapped an officer's face, McMullen said.

An officer used a Taser, but it had no obvious effect, police said. Hayes started "fighting and flailing," McMullen said, and an officer had to press the Taser against Hayes' body to "drive stun" him.

Hayes, of 5115 Branch Ave. N., was charged with battery of a law enforcement officer, obstructing or opposing an officer with violence and trespassing. He was released from Orient Road Jail at 8:43 p.m. after posting $4,500 bail.

McMullen said he did not know what issue Hayes had brought before the board or why he became upset.

http://celebgalz.com/carl-roland-hayes-lawyer-hayes-tasered-drive-stunned/

[Iraira]

If this case works its way through, and the J couple make a mint, clearly the system needs a few more liters of Kabi Killer.

Seriously, this was one of those things that I don't miss about home.