Grajales-Romero v. American Airlines Inc.

• Decision Date: 07 June 1999
• Docket Number: GRAJALES-ROMER,P,98-2144,Nos. 98-1985,s. 98-1985
• Citation: 194 F.3d 288
• Parties: (1st Cir. 1999) ANANIASlaintiff, Appellee, v. AMERICAN AIRLINES, INC., Defendant, Appellant. ANANIASlaintiff, Appellant, v. AMERICAN AIRLINES, INC., Defendant, Appellee. . Heard
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — First Circuit

Page 288

194 F.3d 288 (1st Cir. 1999)

ANANIAS GRAJALES-ROMERO, Plaintiff, Appellee, v. AMERICAN AIRLINES, INC., Defendant, Appellant.

ANANIAS GRAJALES-ROMERO, Plaintiff, Appellant, v. AMERICAN AIRLINES, INC., Defendant, Appellee.

Nos. 98-1985, 98-2144.

United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit.

Heard June 7, 1999.

Decided Oct. 26, 1999.

APPEAL FROM THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF PUERTO RICO

[Copyrighted Material Omitted]

[Copyrighted Material Omitted]

[Copyrighted Material Omitted] Luis A. Oliver-Fraticelli, with whom Jay A. Garcia-Gregory and Fiddler, Gonzalez & Rodriguez were on brief for American Airlines, Inc.

Jose Luis Ubarri-Garcia, with whom David W. Roman and Brown & Ubarri were on brief for Ananas Grajales-Romero.

Before Lynch, Noonan,^* and Lipez, Circuit Judges.

LIPEZ, Circuit Judge.

American Airlines, Inc. appeals from a judgment of $150,000 in favor of Ananas Grajales-Romero, who was injured by a collapsing check-in counter sign at an airport in St. Kitts. American claims that the court erred in allowing the case to go to the jury on the plaintiff's theory that American was liable for the negligence of Executive Airlines, d/b/a/ American Eagle, which American argues actually owned, operated, and maintained the check-in counter. American further claims that there was insufficient evidence of negligence to sustain the jury verdict in this case, and that the court erred by not vacating or remitting the damages award, striking certain defense witnesses, admitting some evidence offered by plaintiff, and refusing to give several jury instructions proposed by American. Grajales cross-appeals, claiming that the court erred in not awarding attorney's fees on the basis of the "obstinacy" of the defendants. We affirm.

I.

Factual background

We present the facts as a jury might have found them, consistent with the record but in the light most favorable to the verdict. See Cumpiano v. Banco Santander Puerto Rico, 902 F.2d 148, 151 (1st Cir. 1990). On July 29, 1994, Plaintiff Ananas Grajales-Romero ("Grajales") was waiting in line at an American Eagle¹ check-in counter in the St. Kitts airport for a return flight to San Juan, Puerto Rico. His acquaintance Terry Connor had accompanied him to the check-in counter. Connor attempted to load Grajales's luggage onto the weigh-in scale adjacent to the check-in counter. In doing so, he grabbed onto an ashtray built into the countertop to gain some leverage in lifting the luggage. The countertop was attached by a hinge to the vertical front facing of the counter. When Connor pulled on the ashtray, the countertop came loose, and pivoted forward on its hinge. A metal signpost and sign were attached to the countertop, and this signpost and sign also pivoted forward with the countertop. As this was happening, plaintiff Grajales was looking down at his ticket. The signpost and/or sign struck Grajales on the top of his head, opening up a two-inch long wound. Although he did not lose consciousness or fall to the floor, he was taken to the St. Kitts hospital, where he received four stitches. After the accident, Grajales experienced neck pains, headaches, and forgetfulness. He was diagnosed by a neurologist as suffering from post-concussion syndrome and a cervical sprain secondary to the accident.

Grajales filed a complaint against American, AMR Corp., and AMR Eagle, Inc. in the federal district court for the District of Puerto Rico on July 28, 1995. On February 11, 1997, the district court dismissed the claims against co-defendants AMR Corp. and AMR Eagle, Inc. for lack of personal jurisdiction. During the course of trial, held from May 20 to May 27, 1998, American claimed that its witnesses Tomas del Valle and Fred Voltaggio were unavailable because they had been transferred to other positions with American. In their place, American offered the testimony of employees who now held the posts vacated by del Valle and Voltaggio; however, the court struck the replacement witnesses because they had not been disclosed in the course of pre-trial discovery. While Voltaggio eventually testified, del Valle did not, and the court granted a missing witness instruction telling the jurors that they could infer that the testimony of del Valle would have been unfavorable to American. The court refused to give an instruction on the doctrine of res ipsa loquitur requested by Grajales, and refused several instructions offered by American. The jury found American liable in the amount of $150,000. The court issued its judgment accordingly, and refused Grajales' claim for attorney's fees under Puerto Rican law. Both parties appealed.

II. Agency by Apparent Authority

American argues that there was insufficient evidence to support a finding that it was liable under agency principles for any negligence by Executive Airlines. It claims that the theories advanced by Grajales to establish American's liability for the accident -- namely, agency by estoppel and agency by apparent authority -- were a subterfuge allowing Grajales to forum-shop into federal court, where he was entitled to a jury trial. See Marshall v. Perez Arzuaga, 828 F.2d 845, 849 (1st Cir. 1987) ("Puerto Rico, a civil law jurisdiction, never uses juries in civil cases"). We will address only Grajales's "apparent authority" claim, which provides an adequate basis for American's liability.

Under Puerto Rico law, an apparent principal may be held liable for the acts of its apparent agent where the apparent principal's actions "led the plaintiffs to reasonably believe [in its] representation" of authority and control over the apparent agent, through the apparent principal's conduct, including its "silence, evasive language and appearances." Berros v. U.P.R., 116 D.P.R. 88, 16 P.R. Offic. Trans. 112, 122 (1985).² The Supreme Court of Puerto Rico has applied the doctrine where "persons who used the services of the [apparent agent] could not possibly know or had no way of knowing that the entity they were dealing with was not" the apparent principal or an agent thereof. Id. at 122-23. The Court has also applied the doctrine where the plaintiff "trusted in good faith" in defendant's conduct, and where that "trust could lead a reasonable person to believe that in fact there was a principal-agent relationship." Vega v. Medical Serv. Admin., 117 D.P.R. 138, 17 P.R. Offic. Trans. 163, 173 (1986).³

The evidence produced at trial was more than sufficient to allow a reasonable jury to conclude that Grajales trusted in good faith in conduct that "could lead a reasonable person to believe that in fact there was a principal-agent relationship." Specifically, the jury could have found that Grajales's ticket, issued by American Airlines, identified the carrier as "AA," an abbreviation for American Airlines. The telephone information line for American Eagle flights is the American Airlines telephone information line. The passenger check-in counters in both San Juan and St. Kitts bore American Airlines logos as well as American Eagle logos. The in-flight magazines on Grajales's flight were the American Airlines magazines "American Ways" and "Latitudes." The personnel staffing the flights wore uniforms and nametags closely resembling American Airlines uniforms and nametags. American Airlines' destination guide (a schedule of flight availability) lists St. Kitts as a destination. Grajales testified that he relied on such information in choosing to fly with American Eagle, and that he assumed it was part of American Airlines. A reasonable jury could conclude from these facts that American's conduct led Grajales reasonably to believe that there was in fact a principal-agent relationship between American and Executive Airlines d/b/a/ American Eagle, and thus American would be liable for any negligence on the part of Executive.

III.

Sufficiency of the Evidence of Negligence

(a) Res Ipsa Loquitur

American states that

[p]laintiff produced no evidence -- either through customary airline practices, past practices, or expert testimony -- to establish a standard of care by which American should have operated. Further, plaintiff presented no evidence regarding the inspection, maintenance, and operation of the ticket counter, and made no attempt to explain in what manner any such conduct might have constituted negligence.

From these assertions, and the fact that the court refused to give the jurors Grajales's proposed res ipsa loquitur instruction, American argues that "[n]o jury could reasonably conclude that American exercised less than reasonable care from the unexplained fact that an accident occurred."

We agree with American that Grajales did not produce either direct or circumstantial evidence explaining how American violated its duty of care.⁴ Grajales offered no evidence, for example, suggesting that the ticket counter had been improperly designed, installed, maintained, or operated.⁵ Instead, Grajales relied on the fact of an unexpected occurrence, arguing that the counter top would not have fallen over and struck him unless American had violated its duty of care. The Supreme Court of Puerto Rico has ruled that the fact of an unexplained occurrence cannot establish an inference of negligence unless the conditions of res ipsa loquitur are satisfied: "(1) the accident must be of a kind which ordinarily does not occur in the absence of someone's negligence; (2) it must be caused by an agency or instrumentality within the exclusive control of defendant; [and] (3) it must not be due to any voluntary action on the part of plaintiff." See Community Partnership v. Presbyterian Hosp., 88 P.R.R. 379, 386 (1963). Given the lack of direct or other circumstantial evidence on American's violation of its duty of care, we must consider whether the conditions of res ipsa loquitur were satisfied here.

We conclude that they were. Indeed, the first two elements of res ipsa loquitur were easily established. A reasonable jury...