Romano v. British Airways

943 F. Supp. 623, 1996 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 16501, 1996 WL 647784
CourtDistrict Court, N.D. West Virginia
DecidedNovember 4, 1996
DocketCivil Action No. 1:96-CV-120
StatusPublished

This text of 943 F. Supp. 623 (Romano v. British Airways) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, N.D. West Virginia primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Romano v. British Airways, 943 F. Supp. 623, 1996 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 16501, 1996 WL 647784 (N.D.W. Va. 1996).

Opinion

[624]*624 ORDER

KEELEY, District Judge.

At a scheduling conference on August 26, 1996, this Court denied the plaintiffs oral motion to remand this civil action to the Magistrate Court of Harrison County on the ground that the cause of action raised herein is completely preempted by the Convention for Unification of Certain Rules Relating to International Transportation by Air, Oct. 12, 1929, 49 STAT, 3000, T.S. No. 876, 137 L.N.T.S. 11, reprinted at 49 U.S.C.App. § 1502 note (codified at 49 U.S.C. § 40105) (“Warsaw Convention”). On August 30, 1996, the plaintiff filed a written motion for remand which the Court will construe as a motion to reconsider the bench ruling. The defendants have filed responsive memoranda, to which the plaintiff has not timely replied. For the reasons stated below, the Court DENIES the motion.

The plaintiff, David J. Romano, who is an attorney appearing pro se, traveled by U.S. Air and British Airways, Inc., from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania to Bulawayo, Zimbabwe for a safari and a hunting trip. Despite the precautions taken to ensure safe and timely delivery of the guns to be used on the trip, shipment was delayed, causing inconvenience, delay and extra expenses in Zimbabwe. Romano filed this action in the Magistrate Court of Harrison County, West Virginia, and it was promptly removed to this Court on the ground that the Warsaw Convention preempts all causes of action arising out of international air travel.

At the scheduling conference, the Court reviewed and relied on the Second Circuit opinion in In re: Air Disaster at Lockerbie, Scotland, 928 F.2d 1267 (2d Cir.), cert. denied, 502 U.S. 920, 112 S.Ct. 331, 116 L.Ed.2d 272 (1991), and the Fifth Circuit opinion in Boehringer-Mannheim Diagnostics, Inc. v. Pan American World Airways, Inc., 737 F.2d 456 (5th Cir.1984), cert. denied, 469 U.S. 1186, 105 S.Ct. 951, 83 L.Ed.2d 959 (1985), both of which held that state causes of action are completely preempted when the state claim alleged falls within the scope of the Convention. The plaintiff now asks the Court to consider two rulings by different judges in the Southern District of Florida: Calderon v. Aerovias Nacionales De Colombia, Amanea, Inc., 738 F.Supp. 485 (S.D. Fla1990); and Rhymes v. Arrow Air, Inc., 636 F.Supp. 737 (S.D. FM986). In Rhymes, the district court first noted that the Warsaw Convention created a .cause of action for wrongful death in international flight, rather than just a limitation of remedy, relying on In re: Mexico City Aircrash, 708 F.2d 400 (9th Cir.1983), and Benjamins v. British European Airways, 572 F.2d 913 (2d Cir.1978). Id. at 740. It then held that state law causes of action not in conflict with the Convention would survive preemption. Rhymes, 636 F.Supp. at 740-41. The Rhymes plaintiffs, having chosen to plead only the state wrongful death claim, were entitled to their choice of a state forum, as the “mere pleading of a federal statute or treaty as a defense will not be enough to invoke federal jurisdiction through removal if a federal cause of action does not appear on the face of the well-pleaded complaint.” Id., citing Franchise Tax Board v. Construction Laborers Vacation Trust, 463 U.S. 1, 103 S.Ct. 2841, 77 L.Ed.2d 420 (1983); Hunter v. United Van Lines, 746 F.2d 635 (9th Cir.1984) and Salveson v. Western States Bankcard Association, 731 F.2d 1423 (9th Cir.1984).

The Calderon decision relied exclusively on Rhymes, as it was the view of the Chief Judge in the District, with no controlling authority in the Eleventh Circuit. Calderon, 738 F.Supp. at 486. But see, Velasquez v. Aerovias Nacionales De Colombia, 747 F.Supp. 670 (S.D. Fla1990) (Warsaw Convention is the exclusive cause of action to victims of international air disasters, recognizing contrary authority).

The Eleventh Circuit specifically declined to speculate on whether the Warsaw Convention entirely preempts state law causes of action for personal injury in Floyd v. Eastern Airlines, Inc., 872 F.2d 1462 (11th Cir.1989), rev’d on other grounds, 499 U.S. 530, 111 S.Ct. 1489, 113 L.Ed.2d 569 (1991) (declining to address preemption as not considered by Circuit Court). The Eleventh Circuit’s opinion, at fii. 33, however, gives an excellent review of the split of authority on the preemption issue as of the date of its decision:

[625]*625It is evident that where the Convention applies it preempts inconsistent local law. Several courts have gone farther, however, and have concluded that the Convention is to be both the exclusive avenue of recovery and the exclusive remedy in the areas it governs. See Boehringer-Mannheim Diagnostics, Inc. v. Pan American World Airways, Inc., 737 F.2d 456, 459 (5th Cir.1984) (court refused to award attorney’s fees under Texas law and held that the Convention preempted plaintiffs negligence cause of action, stating that “[Having concluded that the Warsaw Convention creates the controlling cause of action, we further conclude that it preempts state law in the areas covered;” court implied that all state law causes of action would necessarily conflict with the Convention due to the interests of national and international uniformity, and must therefore be preempted), cert. denied, 469 U.S. 1186, 105 S.Ct. 951, 83 L.Ed.2d 959 (1985); Abramson v. Japan Airlines, Co., 739 F.2d 130, 134 (3d Cir.1984) (court indicated that it would hold that the Convention is the exclusive basis for recovery), cert. denied, 470 U.S. 1059, 105 S.Ct. 1776, 84 L.Ed.2d 835 (1985); Benjamins v. British European Airways, 572 F.2d 913, 919 (2d Cir.1978) (“the desirability of uniformity in international air law can best be recognized by holding that the Convention, otherwise universally applicable, is also the universal source of a right of action”), cert. denied, 439 U.S. 1114, 99 S.Ct. 1016, 59 L.Ed.2d 72 (1979); Stanford v. Kuwait Airlines Corp., 705 F.Supp. 142 (S.D.N.Y.1989) (“[t]he terms of the Warsaw Convention exclusively govern the rights and liabilities of the parties”); Harpalani v. Air India, Inc., 622 F.Supp. 69, 73 (N.D.Ill.1985) (Warsaw claim provides exclusive remedy for delays in air transportation, plaintiffs’ non-Warsaw claims dismissed), disapproved on other grounds Wolgel v. Mexicana Airlines, 821 F.2d 442, 445 (7th Cir.), cert. denied, 484 U.S. 927, 108 S.Ct.

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Bluebook (online)
943 F. Supp. 623, 1996 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 16501, 1996 WL 647784, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/romano-v-british-airways-wvnd-1996.