Trepel v. Roadway Express

• Decision Date: 15 December 1998
• Docket Number: 97-4162,Nos. 97-4152,s. 97-4152
• Citation: 194 F.3d 708
• Parties: (6th Cir. 1999) Dr. Martin Trepel, Plaintiff-Appellant/Cross-Appellee, v. Roadway Express, Inc. , Defendant-Appellee/Cross-Appellant. Argued:
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Sixth Circuit

Page 708

194 F.3d 708 (6th Cir. 1999)

Dr. Martin Trepel, Plaintiff-Appellant/Cross-Appellee, v. Roadway Express, Inc. , Defendant-Appellee/Cross-Appellant.

Nos. 97-4152, 97-4162

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE SIXTH CIRCUIT

Argued: December 15, 1998

Decided and Filed: October 15, 1999

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Northern District of Ohio at Akron. No. 95-00422--Sam H. Bell, District Judge. [Copyrighted Material Omitted] P. David Palmiere, McCONNELL & PALMIERE, Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, for Appellant.

Barry L. Springel, JONES, DAY, REAVIS & POGUE, Cleveland, Ohio, for Appellee.

Before: RYAN, SUHRHEINRICH, and COLE, Circuit Judges.

RYAN, J., delivered the opinion of the court, in which COLE, J., joined. SUHRHEINRICH, J. (pp. 719-22), delivered a separate opinion concurring in part and dissenting in part.

OPINION

RYAN, Circuit Judge.

Dr. Martin Trepel appeals from the $80,000 damages award when a jury found the defendant, Roadway Express, Inc., liable for damage caused during shipment to a very rare wood carving. Trepel raises three evidentiary issues, claiming that the district court's erroneous evidentiary rulings require a new trial on damages only.

Roadway cross-appeals, claiming it is not liable at all or, if it is, that its damages should be offset by Trepel's insurance coverage and/or the limited liability provision in Roadway's tariffs.

We find no merit in Roadway's claims of error on the cross-appeal; therefore, we affirm the district court's judgment in that regard. However, we do find merit in two of Trepel's three evidentiary challenges. Namely, we conclude that: (1) under Federal Rule of Evidence 703, the district court abused its discretion by precluding the plaintiff's experts from testifying about the basis for their opinions regarding the worth of the wood carving; and (2) the district court abused its discretion when admitting only a limited portion of Trepel's deposition testimony, without admitting enough of the surrounding testimony to put the admitted portion of the statement into context, as required by Federal Rule of Evidence 106 and Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 32(a)(4).

Accordingly, for the reasons set forth below, we will vacate the jury verdict and remand the case for a new trial on the damages issue only.

I.

Trepel purchased a wood carving of a snake, called a Baga serpent, from Mourtala Diop, a New York artist, for $15,000. Trepel claims this price was significantly lower than the actual value of the carving because Diop was desperate for money. Diop took the carving, which was about seven feet long, to Transfers International Packing & Shipping, Inc. (TIPS) in New Jersey, and paid $150 to have it shipped to Trepel in Arizona. TIPS transported the package to Roadway, and prepared a delivery receipt, noting that the package was a 20-pound sculpture. Mario Castaneda, the owner of TIPS, testified that he does not often engage in domestic shipping, and he has only worked with Roadway once before. TIPS did not tell Roadway the value of the carving, and Roadway never asked for that information. Roadway transported the package to Arizona, and upon being notified of its arrival in Arizona, Trepel sent his housekeeper to retrieve it. She unwrapped the package at the defendant's business premises and discovered that the carving had been broken into three pieces. The housekeeper refused delivery. About two weeks later, on February 25, 1993, Trepel submitted a claim form to Roadway and was told that he need not do anything further to complete the claim. At the time, Trepel was unaware of the actual value of the carving.

The evidence at trial revealed that the serpent carving is an authentic carving from the Baga tribe in Africa, and was most likely used during the Baga tribe's rituals, which makes it even more valuable. One of the plaintiff's experts appraised the serpent at $2.2 million, stating that it was one of the best in the world.

Some of the experts testified that the best way to determine the value of a carving such as this one is to look at the selling price of comparable pieces. However, several of the best serpent carvings in the world are in private collections and have not been sold recently. Trepel discovered one woman, Shelley Dinhofer, who had a very valuable Baga serpent. She stated in a tape-recorded conversation with Trepel that she had been offered $2 and $2.5 million, respectively, for the serpent, and had turned down both offers. In response to Trepel's inquiry, she stated that she would sell it for $3 million if she were offered that much.

Roadway denied Trepel's claim, and so, almost two years after the carving was broken, Trepel sued: (1) his insurance company, with whom he later settled for an undisclosed amount; (2) TIPS, a claim that is still pending; and (3) Roadway. Trepel's claims against Roadway included theories of negligence and breach of contract. During the pretrial proceedings, the district court determined that the case is governed by the Carmack Amendment to the Interstate Commerce Act. See 49 U.S.C. § 14706. Section 14706 simply provides that carriers providing transportation are liable to the person entitled to recover under the receipt or bill of lading for actual loss or injury to the property.

The case was tried to a jury, which found that the defendant was liable for the damage to the carving and awarded Trepel $80,000. Being greatly dissatisfied with the amount of the verdict, Trepel moved for a new trial on the damages issue only; the defendant moved for a judgment as a matter of law, formerly a judgment notwithstanding the verdict. The court denied both motions, and this appeal followed.

II.

Roadway raises three issues on appeal, all relating to the Carmack Amendment. All three of the issues were raised in the court below either in the defendant's two motions for summary judgment, or its motion for judgment as a matter of law. We will affirm the district court on all three issues.

A.

The first question we must decide is whether 49 C.F.R. §1005.2(b) precludes recovery because the claim form Trepel submitted to Roadway did not contain a specified or determinable amount as required by the regulation. Section 1005.2(b) provides:

A written . . . communication . . . from a claimant, filed with a proper carrier within the time limits specified in the bill of lading or contract of carriage or transportation and: (1) Containing facts sufficient to identify the baggage or shipment . . . of property, (2) asserting liability for alleged loss, damage, injury, or delay, and (3) making claim for the payment of a specified or determinable amount of money, shall be considered as sufficient compliance with the provisions for filing claims . . . .

In order to resolve this issue, a fuller development of the facts is necessary. After Trepel's housekeeper discovered that the carving was broken, Trepel filed a cargo loss and damage claim, revealing that Trepel or TIPS had never been given a bill of lading, only a delivery receipt. On the back of the claim form were various regulations regarding the Carmack Amendment, 49 U.S.C. § 14706, including 49 C.F.R. §1005.2(b). In the place where Trepel was to specify the amount of the loss or damage, he inserted, "to be determined but not to exceed $150,000.00." In due course, Roadway moved for summary judgment, claiming that strict compliance with the claim filing requirement is necessary for the plaintiff's primafacie case. The court disagreed and held that Trepel had substantially complied with the requirement, under the law of this circuit.

Because this issue involves a question of law, we will conduct a de novo review. See K&T Enter., Inc. v. Zurich Ins. Co., 97 F.3d 171, 176 (6th Cir. 1996).

Defendant invites our attention to three cases it contends stand for the proposition that the plaintiff must strictly comply with all three requirements of the regulation. We disagree. First of all, in one case upon which Roadway relies, Salzstein v. Bekins Van Lines, Inc., 993 F.2d 1187 (5th Cir. 1993), the court did not specifically state that it was using a strict compliance requirement; instead, it held that because the plaintiffs did not give an estimate of the amount of their damages at all, their claim was barred. See id. at 1190. Similarly, in Nedlloyd Lines v. Harris Transport Co., 922 F.2d 905 (1st Cir. 1991), the shipper's claim was barred because the shipper never stated a price at all. The court did not impose a strict compliance requirement as to the specificity of the amount listed; instead, it only required that some amount be listed. See id. at 908-09.

In the third case defendant cites--Pathway Bellows, Inc. v. Blanchette, 630 F.2d 900 (2d Cir. 1980)--two elements were missing from the written claim: (1) an amount of the damages, and (2) an assertion that the carrier was liable. The plaintiff attempted to file a second claim letter with the missing information, but it was filed one day after the time limit for filing had expired. Because it was one day late, the court held that the claim was time barred. Id. at 905. Blanchette is the closest a court of appeals has come to stating a strict compliance test. However, in this case, it was the time limit for which strict compliance was required, not the specific elements of the claim.

On the other hand, two cases from sister circuits seem to require no more than substantial compliance with the regulation, rather than strict compliance. In Wisconsin Packing Co. v. Indiana Refrigerator Lines, Inc., 618 F.2d 441 (7th Cir. 1980), the court stated, in dicta, that had it found the regulations applicable, it would have found the plaintiff complied with the regulations because courts should be liberal in finding compliance. See id. at 445-46. The court also stated that actual knowledge of the damage, plus written notice of the claim, even if the written notice does not comply with the regulation, together can...