A frequent United Airlines flyer has demanded $100,000 from the Chicago-based carrier for the ‘mental anguish’ he suffered as a result of a lunchbox dispute that saw him booted from a flight and then temporarily banned from flying United over allegations he inappropriately touched a flight attendant.
Yubo Miao, who is a U.S. citizen of Chinese descent, claims United Airlines racially discriminated against him because a flight attendant asked him to remove his lunchbox from the overhead bin after he had already put two other suitcases in the locker above his seat.
In a civil complaint filed in a Chicago district court last week, Miao claims that a flight attendant marched up and yelled at him to place his lunchbox underneath the seat in front of him as passengers were still boarding the San Diego-bound plane on June 1, 2023.
Miao says he initially placed the lunchbox on an empty adjacent seat and told the flight attendant he would move it to…
