Zamber v. Am. Airlines, Inc.

282 F. Supp. 3d 1289
CourtDistrict Court, S.D. Florida
DecidedOctober 16, 2017
DocketCase Number: 16–23901–CIV–MARTINEZ–GOODMAN
StatusPublished
Cited by7 cases

This text of 282 F. Supp. 3d 1289 (Zamber v. Am. Airlines, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, S.D. Florida primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Zamber v. Am. Airlines, Inc., 282 F. Supp. 3d 1289 (S.D. Fla. 2017).

Opinion

JOSE H. MARTINEZ, UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE

THE MATTER was referred to the Honorable Jonathan Goodman, United States Magistrate Judge, for a Report and Recommendation on Defendant's Motion to Dismiss (the "Motion") [ECF No. 13]. Magistrate Judge Goodman filed a Report and Recommendation [ECF No. 65], recommending that the Motion be denied without prejudice. The Court has reviewed the entire file and record and has made a de novo review of the issues that the objections *1293to the Magistrate Judge's Report and Recommendation present. After careful consideration, it is hereby:

ADJUDGED that United States Magistrate Judge Goodman's Report and Recommendation [ECF No. 65] is AFFIRMED and ADOPTED . Accordingly, it is ADJUDGED that Defendant's Motion to Dismiss [ECF No. 13] is DENIED without prejudice.

Moreover, in apparent anticipation of this Court entering an order adopting the Report and Recommendation and denying Defendant's motion to dismiss, Defendant has also moved to certify this order for interlocutory appeal, pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1292(b) [ECF No. 69]. A district court may certify an order in a civil action for interlocutory appeal if the Court believes that the order "involves a controlling question of law as to which there is a substantial ground for difference of opinion and that an immediate appeal from the order may materially advance the ultimate termination of the litigation." 28 U.S.C. § 1292(b). As such, a district court may certify for immediate review an order disposing of an important question of law, which the Court of Appeals may address, in its discretion, if application is made to it within ten days after entry of the order. See McFarlin v. Conseco Servs., LLC, 381 F.3d 1251, 1256-59 (11th Cir. 2004). In interpreting the "controlling question of law" requirement, the Eleventh Circuit has held that the question must be a purely legal one that is "controlling of at least a substantial part of the case." McFarlin, 381 F.3d at 1258, 1264. In other words, " § 1292(b) appeals were intended, and should be reserved, for situations in which the court of appeals can rule on a pure, controlling question of law without having to delve beyond the surface of the record in order to determine the facts." Id. at 1259.

Here, the Court agrees with Magistrate Judge Goodman's analysis that "an issue of first impression about ADA preemption should be deferred until the summary judgment stage, where the factual record can be more fully developed .... Determining whether Plaintiff's claims have an impermissible effect on [Defendant]'s prices or services is an inherently factual question; evidence is required to determine whether and how Plaintiff's claim would have such an effect." [ECF No. 65 at 18, 21].

Accordingly, because significant factual questions remain at this stage, Defendant's motion to certify this order for interlocutory appeal, pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1292(b) [ECF No. 69], is DENIED . Plaintiff's Motion to Lift Stay and Enter New Scheduling Order [ECF No. 74] is GRANTED . The Clerk shall LIFT the stay in this action. The Court shall reset any applicable pretrial deadlines and the trial date by separate order.

DONE AND ORDERED in Chambers at Miami, Florida, this 16 day of October, 2017.

REPORT AND RECOMMENDATIONS ON DEFENDANT'S MOTION TO DISMISS

Jonathan Goodman, UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE

This purported class action case concerns the language which appears on an airline's website when a customer purchases optional travel insurance (a/k/a trip insurance). It also concerns the reasonable inferences which a customer could or would make and how a customer would interpret the information provided. Although the website does not exactly say what Plaintiff Kristian Zamber ("Plaintiff" or "Zamber") claims it says, it does make enough representations to meet the minimum *1294Florida state law standard for alleged deception and unjust enrichment claims (when analyzed through the prism of a permissible and rationale interpretation of these representations).

Plaintiff might not ultimately be able to certify a class, and he might not later survive a summary judgment motion either. But for now, for purposes of a threshold motion to dismiss, Plaintiff's Complaint survives, and the Undersigned therefore respectfully recommends that United States District Judge Jose E. Martinez deny the dismissal motion.

Nevertheless, the Undersigned feels compelled to note that the issue is a close one. In addition, as outlined below, some of the allegations appear to overstate or incorrectly state what language is actually on the website. Plaintiff may therefore wish to clean up the problematic allegations in a newer version of the Complaint.

Moreover, Plaintiff may need to confront again the threshold issue of whether the Airline Deregulation Act ("ADA") forecloses (or preempts) the claims here. Neither party has called my attention to an on-point authority addressing the critical issue of whether travel insurance is encompassed by the ADA's prohibition-i.e., whether travel insurance is "related to a price, route or service of an air carrier that may provide air transportation." 49 U.S.C. § 41713(b)(1).

Because this issue appears to be one of first impression, the Undersigned recommends that the Court postpone ruling on this issue until discovery generates additional facts necessary to better inform the analysis of the ADA preemption issue.

In an effort to highlight some of the points which affect the analysis of the two counts here, the Undersigned will outline later in this Report the allegations which Plaintiff did not make in his Complaint (and the representations which Plaintiff did make, but in an arguably inconsistent or problematic way). I will also note the allegations which Defendant American Airlines, Inc.

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282 F. Supp. 3d 1289, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/zamber-v-am-airlines-inc-flsd-2017.