A teenage passenger on a United Express flight from Las Vegas to Denver says she has been left with a traumatic brain injury, post-traumatic stress disorder, and severe emotional damage after a flight attendant dropped a 32oz Hydro Flask water bottle on her head.
Summer Klein, who only recently turned 21, also claims her injuries were aggravated when the flight attendants served her alcohol shortly after they dropped the bottle on her head. Summer was 18 years old at the time of the accident.
In a recent lawsuit filed in Colorado District Court, Summer claims the flight attendant was negligent in her handling of the Hydro Flask and that serving her alcohol direct exacerbated and prolonged her injuries.
Summer is suing United Airlines, as well as Skywest Airlines, which operates some regional services under the United Express brand, including the flight that she was on from Las Vegas on June 22, 2021.
The lawsuit alleges that United and Skywest failed to exercise the “highest standard of care for the safety of their passengers, which has resulted in Summer suffering chronic post-traumatic headaches ever since the accident.
Summer’s attorney has hit out at United and Skywest for allowing flight attendants to serve a minor alcohol following the accident, saying:
“This conduct is so outrageous in character, and so extreme in degree, that a reasonable member of the community would regard the conduct as atrocious, going beyond all possible bounds of decency and utterly intolerable in a civilized community”.
According to court filings, Summer is claiming damages of more than $100,000 and has a requested a jury trial. Skywest Airlines did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
