The back-and-forth continued Tuesday between the legal team representing Broncos legend Terrell Davis and United Airlines, over the Hall of Fame running back's removal from a flight earlier this month.
Davis was issued a travel ban by United in the wake of the incident. He posted a screenshot of email correspondence from the airline's Passenger Incident Review Committee to social media.
Denver7 asked United about the ban. The airline shared a statement in response, saying the report was generated the day after the incident and that United had "discussed with Mr. Davis’ team that [the travel ban] had been rescinded."
Representatives for Davis, though, called that claim "blatantly false," saying they had heard for the first time Tuesday (July 30) that the ban was no longer in place.
In United's final statement to Denver7, it said it "stands by" its timeline and saying it communicated with Davis's team on July 15 and 16.
Davis's representatives doubled down on prior claims that they would be filing a lawsuit against United over the incident.
The apparent stalemate stems from a July 13 encounter onboard a United plane that was caught on video. Davis was handcuffed and removed from the plane after an exchange with a flight attendant. An investigation later determined Davis did nothing wrong.
Davis said his son had asked for some ice, but the flight attendant either ignored or didn't hear the request. Davis said he then “lightly tapped” the flight attendant's arm to get their attention.
The former Bronco said the flight attendant shouted, “don’t hit me,” then left the beverage cart and walked to the front of the plane. Once the flight landed, Davis said the pilot asked everyone to stay in their seats as the FBI and other law enforcement approached him, handcuffing Davis.
The former running back's Tuesday post on Instagram said the airline "failed on so many levels" in its response.
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Former Bronco Terrell Davis says he was handcuffed, escorted off United flight
Lawyers from Stinar, Gould, Grieco & Hensley representing Davis criticized the airline for "a lack of a public apology to the ENTIRE Davis family, failure to publicly provide any transparency as to how this horrific event took place, and their failure to publicly address significant policy changes to avoid passenger mistreatment."
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Lawyers release video of Terrell Davis detained on United plane
The airline's media relations team said:
"Mr. Davis received this letter the day after the incident. It was generated due to the report of the flight attendant - who is no longer employed by United. The day after the letter was sent, we discussed with Mr. Davis’ team that it had been rescinded. We have apologized to Mr. Davis for his experience and continue to review our handling of incidents like this to protect our highest priority - the safety of our customers and crew."
Davis's team alleged the airline was "engaging in tactics in an attempt to discredit the timeline of events."
"Today’s events have only further confirmed that there is an urgent need for an overhaul of United’s leadership, who continues to prioritize protecting their image over passenger safety and experience, including at the expense of an innocent family’s reputation and well-being," the law firm's statement read.
