today.msnbc.msn.com/id/38414189/ … ?gt1=43001
McInnis said Southwest staff may have acted more swiftly than usual in booting her because the overweight passenger in question was only 14 and they were trying to spare the teen embarrassment.
If you read the article, you’ll find that the “bumped” passenger was flying standby, when the plump confirmed pax showed up. Non-story. This is why SWA now charges you to fly standby. Thanks lady looking for lawsuit, your type has ruined it for the rest of us who enjoy(ed) the extra perks of flying SWA.
Well, the standby should have never been cleared in the first place but I think my question is, did the fat kid buy two seats or just one?
Good question!
The Customer who has purchased two seats must be an active participant in preserving his/her additional seat. We encourage Customers of size to preboard to locate adequate seating, placing the Reserved Seat Document in the adjacent seat.
southwest.com/travel_center/cos_qa.html
what if the ‘customer of size’ never arrived, taxi out w/empty seats? there has to be a cut off time for no shows, the standby lady was already seated, they wouldn’t have seated her if the kid had been on time.
From the article placed in squawks (emphasis mine)
"She says the displaced passenger was not only accommodated on another flight but arrived at her final destination two hours ahead of schedule and was given a refund.
“We reached out to the adult customer and accommodated her and reimbursed her for her fare for the inconvenience,” Eichinger says."
What’s the problem that I am not seeing?
Passengers who do not obtain a boarding pass and are not present and available for boarding in the departure gate area at least ten minutes prior to scheduled departure time may have their reserved space cancelled and will not be eligible for denied boarding compensation.
From SWA site.
“But when a late-arriving, overweight 14-year-old required two seats, the thin woman was told to leave the flight.
It didn’t seem right that I should have to leave to accommodate someone who had only paid for one seat,”
From the article on squawks.
I’d side with the lady just from looking at SW’s policies, even though she was generously compensated, if you have rules stick to them 
The fact that he was an unaccompanied minor requires that he be on that flight, no ifs ands or buts.
And she was standby. The way I feel about standby is the seat is only mine once the plane is airborne.
And thank you for the lawsuit after arriving earlier and getting there for free.
My point exactly. I still must be missing something on this as this defies logic in my simple processor just as much as the logic behind McDonalds hot coffee lawsuit.
where does it say that? he is 14, not a UM according to SWs site
Children ages five through 11 traveling without an accompanying Passenger age 12 or older must travel as Unaccompanied Minors on Southwest Airlines.