A passenger has filed a lawsuit against an airline for serving him so much alcohol that led him to beat up his wife.
Yoichi Shimamoto has sued United Airlines for negligence and allowing him to drink to the point of inebriation during a flight from Osaka, Japan to San Francisco, reports the Telegraph.
The Japanese businessman claims that it was the multiple glasses of Burgundy, served at 20-minute intervals, which led him to beat his wife Ayisha, while the couple were walking through customs in December 2006.
The lawsuit filed at the US District Court in Tampa, Florida says that the wine left him so drunk that “he could not manage himself”.
Law experts said that the case would hinge on whether the on-flight drinks service can be classed as a bar and therefore subject to the same legal liabilities as terrestrial drinking establishments.
Bars in the US are legally responsible for harm caused by intoxicated customers.
