Clarification by AskThePilot [1]: For the record, and to correct something that virtually everyone has pointed out: this was a United Express flight, not a United Airlines flight, operated by a contractor company called Republic Airways. The crew members were not United employees at all. That doesn’t mitigate what happened, and I don’t know which employees — Republic crewmembers or mainline United customer service employees in the terminal — were the ones who made the call to have the passenger taken off, but it’s important to note.
It's important to note that the airline is required to pay cash[0], not vouchers, for involuntary bumping, and this is supposed to happen before boarding. They dragged the man off the plane after he was already seated. He was not denied boarding, he was forcibly removed, so this falls under Rule 21 of the Carriage Contract[1], not rule 25. He does not meet any of the criteria for rule 21, however.
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[ 4.0 ms ] story [ 21.3 ms ] thread[1] http://www.askthepilot.com/passenger-forcibly-removed/
[0]: https://www.transportation.gov/airconsumer/fly-rights#Overbo...
[1]: https://www.united.com/web/en-US/content/contract-of-carriag...