Stolk v. Compagnie Nationals Air France

58 Misc. 2d 1008, 299 N.Y.S.2d 58
CourtCivil Court of the City of New York
DecidedFebruary 17, 1969
StatusPublished
Cited by8 cases

This text of 58 Misc. 2d 1008 (Stolk v. Compagnie Nationals Air France) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Civil Court of the City of New York primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Stolk v. Compagnie Nationals Air France, 58 Misc. 2d 1008, 299 N.Y.S.2d 58 (N.Y. Super. Ct. 1969).

Opinion

Charles Gold, J.

After trial the jury has- awarded plaintiff $2,000 in her action for damages resulting from .the loss of two pieces of luggage during her trip from New York to Paris on [1009]*1009the defendant airline’s Flight No. 044, July 10,1967. The defendant has moved pursuant to CPLR 4404 (subd^ [a]) for judgment, notwithstanding the verdict, dismissing the complaint with respect to all claims in excess of $330. It contends that its liability is limited to that sum by virtue of either article 22 of the Convention for the Unification of Certain Rules Relating to International Transportation By Air (49 U. S. Stat. 3000 et seq.) (commonly known as the Warsaw Convention), or, if this be inapplicable, then by the provisions of the Local and Joint International Passenger Rules Tariff No. PR-2 which defendant has filed with the Civil Aeronautics Board pursuant to subdivision (a) of section 1373 of title 49 of the United States Code.

At the outset, it should be .stated that the flight referred to is international ” as defined by the Warsaw Convention. Thus, that Convention’s provisions cover the incidences of this flight. Difficulty arises, however, in determining whether Air France has complied with .the prerequisites that the Convention imposes before permitting the defendant to limit its liability thereunder.

Defendant’s argument in this regard is twofold. First, it contends that plaintiff knew or should have known of the limitations of the Convention. It is the defendant’s position that plaintiff read or should have read .the notice of such limitations for loss of baggage contained under the title of “ Conditions of Contract,” in the passenger ticket and baggage check issued to plaintiff approximately two weeks before the flight.

Secondly, defendant asserts that the notice of the Warsaw Convention’s limitations on liability relating to death and personal injury, printed in 10-point type, in accordance with the Montreal Agreement between air carriers concerning the Warsaw Convention (and the Civil Aeronautics Board Order No. E-23680 approving that agreement) was sufficient to alert plaintiff to .the applicability of the Convention’s limitations regarding baggage loss.

There is no need whatsoever to consider defendant’s contention that plaintiff read the baggage limitation provision, inasmuch as the jury found that she had not. This finding was in response to a specific question .submitted by the court. Further, defendant has not directed the court’s attention to any authority to support its contention that plaintiff should have read the aforesaid statement of limitations of liability and in the circumstances present the court is of the opinion that plaintiff was under no such obligation.

[1010]*1010In the case of Lisi v. Alitalia Linee Aeree Italiane, S.p.A. (253 F. Supp. 237, affd. 370 F. 2d 508 [C. A. 2d], affd. by an evenly divided court 390 U. S. 455), which involved wrongful death, personal injury and property damage, the Federal District Court for the Southern District of New York held that statements printed in very small type, similar in size to the type before us, could not give plaintiff constructive notice of the airline’s limitation of liability. In denouncing the legend printed in this type, the court wrote that the limitations are: ‘ ‘ camouflaged in Lilliputian print in a thicket of Conditions of Contract ’ * * * Indeed, the exculpatory statements on which defendant relies are virtually invisible. They are ineffectively positioned, diminutively sized, and unemphasized by bold face type, contrasting color, or anything else. The simple truth is that they are so artfully camouflaged that their presence is concealed.” (253 F. Supp. 243.)

Every criticism made by the court in the Lisi case (supra) may be made herein with like purpose and emphasis. Accordingly, the court finds that the statements of liability limits contained in the conditions of contract, printed as they are in miniscule type, did not give the plaintiff the notice required under subdivision (4) of article 4 of the Warsaw Convention. (Lisi v. Alitalia, supra; Egan v. Kollsman Instrument Corp., 21 N Y 2d 160.)

If ¡should be noted at this point that the courts in Lisi v. Alitalia (supra) and Egan v. Kollsman Instrument Corp. (supra) were dealing with and interpreting the provisions of article 3 of the Warsaw Convention concerning the passenger ticket. The verbiage of article 3, while requiring a ¡statement of liability limitations to appear in the passenger ticket, denies to the carrier the use of these limitations if it “ accepts a passenger without a passenger ticket having been delivered ’ ’. (Subd. [2].) On the other hand, article 4, concerning the baggage check, not only requires a statement of limitations of liability to appear thereon and denies the ¡carrier the right to invoke these limitations if no baggage check is delivered, but further states that ‘ ‘ if the baggage check does not contain [a statement of the applicable limitations of liability] ” the carrier may not limit his liability. Thus, the very specific requirement of article 4 makes it mandatory for the carrier to include a statement of the applicable limitations in the baggage check if it wishes to limit its exposure for loss or damage to baggage.

Our courts have interpreted .the delivery requirement of article 3 to require: ‘‘ That the ticket be delivered to the passenger in ¡such a manner as to afford him a reasonable oppor[1011]*1011tunity to take measures to protect himself against the limitation of liability.” (Mertens v. Flying Tiger Line, 341 F. 2d 851, 856, [C. A. 2d], cert. den. 382 U. S. 816.)

Thereafter, in Lisi v. Alitalia (supra) it was held that a notice of the limitations printed in miniscule type was no notice at all and did not afford the plaintiff the protection sought to be granted to him by the Convention’s requirement of delivery of the ticket.

It is interesting to note that the criticism leveled at the opinions in the Lisi and Egan cases (supra), on the part of the carriers, leaned very heavily on the contrasting provisions of articles 3 and 4. Their contention was that the wording of article 3 does not require that there be a printed statement of the Convention’s limitations to make them available to the carrier, while acknowledging that article 4 (relied on herein) might, in fact, make such notice mandatory. (See 33 J. Air L. & Com. 698.) The court, in fact, agrees with this contention even though article 4 deals with baggage and article 3 deals with the person. Thus, it would be incongruous to permit a notice such as was denouncel in Lisi v. Alitalia (supra) and Egan v. Kollsman (supra) under article 3 to satisfy the more rigid requirements of article 4.

The court is also constrained to disagree with the defendant’s assertion that the notice, though printed in 10-point type, is sufficient to alert plaintiff to the limitation fixed by the Convention on baggage liability. This notice speaks only of limited liability in the case of death or personal injury. Not one word is mentioned therein regarding any limit whatsoever for loss of baggage.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Cenci v. Mall Airways, Inc.
140 Misc. 2d 907 (Albany City Court, 1988)
McMurry v. Capitol International Airways
102 Misc. 2d 720 (Civil Court of the City of New York, 1980)
Hill v. Eastern Airlines, Inc.
103 Misc. 2d 306 (Civil Court of the City of New York, 1980)
Bianchi v. United Air Lines
587 P.2d 632 (Court of Appeals of Washington, 1978)
Robert v. Pan American World Airways
71 Misc. 2d 991 (Appellate Terms of the Supreme Court of New York, 1972)
Owens v. Italia Societa Per Azione Navigazione-Genova
70 Misc. 2d 719 (Civil Court of the City of New York, 1972)
Sofranski v. KLM Royal Dutch Airlines
68 Misc. 2d 402 (Civil Court of the City of New York, 1971)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
58 Misc. 2d 1008, 299 N.Y.S.2d 58, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/stolk-v-compagnie-nationals-air-france-nycivct-1969.