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SOUTHEAST TEXAS RECORD

Tuesday, March 19, 2024

Remaining claims in Houston attorney’s suit over shove at the airport dropped

Law money 01

Claiming he suffered a closed-head injury, Ronald Tigner filed suit against United on June 7, 2017 in Harris County, also naming Alejandro Anastasia, the former airline employee who pushed him, and Ianthe Phillips-Allred as defendants.

On May 25, Tigner filed a motion to nonsuit United and Phillips-Allred, court records show.

Three days later, the trial court granted the motion, dismissing the claims against the former defendants with prejudice.

Tigner’s claims against Anastasia remained, however.

On Aug. 8, a joint agreement to nonsuit with prejudice all remaining claims was entered into the record, court records show.

The agreements shows Tigner nonsuited Anastasia, Anastasia nonsuited his claims against Tigner and United and United nonsuited its claims against Anastasia.

Case history

On July 21, 2015, Tigner was attempting to catch a flight out of Bush Intercontinental Airport when he allegedly received a boarding pass that was “illegible” that United refused to reprint.

TSA then refused to allow him to pass through the security checkpoint “because of the illegible pass,” obliging him to proceed back to the United ticketing area.

When Tigner approached Anastasia and Allred for help, they allegedly refused to offer assistance and instead laughed and cursed at him. The encounter ended with Anastasia pushing Tigner to the ground and allegedly causing the attorney’s head injury.

However, in a countersuit filed in July, Anastasia claims Tigner was “shouting profanities and racial slurs” and even instigated the physical encounter.

On Dec. 7, Tigner filed a response to a United motion to compel discovery, seeking to prevent the airline from obtaining his tax returns, time records, vacation records, bank account records, credit reports, evidence of any indebtedness, attorney client communications, pleadings and “every piece of paper” in his personnel file.

United sought the records because Tigner was claiming damages for his diminishing cognitive function, which has allegedly impacted his ability to practice law.

However, Tigner claimed his medical records demonstrate that the documents are not relevant because he “told his doctors that he had compensated for the cognitive impairment he suffered” by working more hours and making to-do lists.

Katy attorney William Hoke represented him.

Harris County District Court Cause No. 2017-37998

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