Lewis v. Continental Airlines, Inc.

Decision Date10 March 1999
Docket NumberNo. H-98-2212.,H-98-2212.
PartiesRobert L. LEWIS, Plaintiff, v. CONTINENTAL AIRLINES, INC., City of Houston, Houston Police Department, Globe Security Services, Inc., a/k/a Globe Security Systems, and Sandra D. Tisdel, Defendants.
CourtU.S. District Court — Southern District of Texas

Susan J. Taylor, Bond Taylor and Lee, Houston, TX, for Robert L. Lewis, plaintiff.

Rachel Giesber, Fulbright & Jaworski, Houston, TX, for Continental Airlines Incorporated, Sandra D. Tisdel, defendants.

Richard John Urra, Office of City Attorney, Houston, TX, for City of Houston, Houston Police Dept., defendants.

Claude R. Treece, Sewell and Riggs, Houston, TX, for Globe Airport Security Services Inc, aka, Globe Security Systems, defendant.

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER

CRONE, United States Magistrate Judge.

I. Introduction

Pending before the court is Defendant Continental Airlines, Inc.'s ("Continental") Motion to Dismiss (# 7). Having reviewed the pending motion, the submissions of the parties, the pleadings, and the applicable law, the court is of the opinion that Continental's motion to dismiss should be denied.

II. Factual Background

Plaintiff Robert L. Lewis ("Lewis") was traveling on a Continental flight from Kansas City, Missouri, to Atlanta, Georgia, on April 25, 1997. His itinerary included a connecting flight at Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston, Texas. Lewis contends that, having arrived on time for his connecting flight, he approached the gate agent, who informed him that the flight had been delayed thirty minutes. He chose to wait in a seat across from the ticket counter. About thirty minutes later, he noticed that the same ticket agent had moved to another gate. He approached the agent and was told that his flight had departed ten minutes earlier. According to Lewis, the airline did not announce the departure of the connecting flight. Although he missed the flight, his luggage remained on board en route to Atlanta.

Lewis then spoke with Concourse Superintendent Paul Montague about his dilemma. He offered Lewis complimentary overnight accommodations and meal vouchers, agreeing that Continental would book him on the earliest possible flight to Atlanta the following morning. Lewis stayed the night at the hotel arranged by Continental and arrived at the airport early the next morning hoping to book a flight departing earlier than Continental's 11:00 a.m. flight to Atlanta. According to Lewis, a Continental ticket agent informed him that Delta Airlines had a 6:00 a.m. flight to Atlanta and instructed him to go to a Continental ticket counter to make the arrangements. At the counter, Lewis claims that he spoke with Continental ticket agent Sandra D. Tisdel ("Tisdel"), a co-defendant in this action. Lewis alleges in his complaint that he informed Tisdel about his experience the previous night, but "Tisdel was quite rude and not helpful in obtaining the flight ticket for the Delta Airlines flight." Lewis admits that he stated "in frustration to Tisdel that there could have been a bomb in the luggage that went on to Atlanta the previous night." In its answer to Lewis's complaint, Continental contends that "the plaintiff indicated that a bomb was in his luggage or aboard an airplane as alleged in ¶ IV(11) of the Complaint." Tisdel responded to Lewis's comment by remarking that she should call security and then proceeded to contact a security officer. At that point, Lewis states "[u]pon information and belief" an employee of defendant Globe Airport Security Services, Inc. ("Globe") approached him, requested picture identification, and "was rude and obnoxious and treated Mr. Lewis like a criminal." The Globe employee then turned Lewis over to officers of the Houston Police Department ("HPD"), who took him to an interrogation room. Lewis contends that he "was fully cooperative and allowed them to search his person as well as a computer bag that he was carrying. Nothing of any substance was found either on [his] person or in the computer bag."

Lewis claims that following the interrogation, he was handcuffed and taken to the Harris County Jail, where he was incarcerated for twelve to fourteen hours and charged with aggravated assault against Tisdel and with making a terroristic threat. He also contends that despite his informing the HPD that he was epileptic and that his medication was in his luggage that went on to Atlanta the previous evening, the HPD refused him any medical attention. Ultimately, on July 16, 1997, the charges against Lewis were dismissed for insufficient evidence.

On July 14, 1998, Lewis filed this action in federal court, alleging a variety of claims against all the defendants: negligence, gross negligence, malicious prosecution, false arrest, intentional infliction of emotional distress, assault, and violation of his right to be free from unwarranted seizure of his person under the Fourth and Fourteenth Amendments of the United States Constitution. His claims against the City of Houston and HPD were subsequently dismissed. On August 21, 1998, Continental filed its motion to dismiss, arguing that Lewis's state law claims against it are preempted by the Federal Aviation Act ("FAA"), as amended by the Airline Deregulation Act ("ADA"). See 49 U.S.C. § 41713 et seq. Lewis responds that because none of his claims relates to the prices, routes, or services provided by Continental, they are not preempted.

III. Analysis
A. Standard for Dismissal

A motion to dismiss under Rule 12(b)(6) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure tests only the formal sufficiency of the statement of a claim for relief. It is not a procedure for resolving contests about the facts or the merits of a case. In ruling on a motion to dismiss, the court must accept the factual allegations of the complaint as true, view them in a light most favorable to the plaintiff, and draw all reasonable inferences in the plaintiff's favor. See Scheuer v. Rhodes, 416 U.S. 232, 236, 94 S.Ct. 1683, 40 L.Ed.2d 90 (1974); see Indest v. Freeman Decorating, Inc., 164 F.3d 258, 261 (5th Cir.1999); Jefferson v. Lead Indus. Ass'n, Inc., 106 F.3d 1245, 1250 (5th Cir. 1997); Baker v. Putnal, 75 F.3d 190, 196 (5th Cir.1996); Fernandez-Montes v. Allied Pilots Ass'n, 987 F.2d 278, 284-85 (5th Cir.1993). The court may not look beyond the four corners of the plaintiff's pleadings. See Indest, 164 F.3d at 261; Baker, 75 F.3d at 196; McCartney v. First City Bank, 970 F.2d 45, 47 (5th Cir.1992). Thus, the motion must be denied unless it appears to a certainty that the plaintiff can prove no set of facts that would entitle him to relief. See Hishon v. King & Spalding, 467 U.S. 69, 73, 104 S.Ct. 2229, 81 L.Ed.2d 59 (1984); Conley v. Gibson, 355 U.S. 41, 45-46, 78 S.Ct. 99, 2 L.Ed.2d 80 (1957); Jefferson, 106 F.3d at 1250; Blackburn v. City of Marshall, 42 F.3d 925, 931 (5th Cir.1995); Leffall v. Dallas Indep. Sch. Dist., 28 F.3d 521, 524 (5th Cir.1994); U.S. Abatement Corp. v. Mobil Exploration & Producing U.S., Inc., 39 F.3d 556, 559 (5th Cir.1994); McCartney, 970 F.2d at 47. "However, conclusory allegations or legal conclusions masquerading as factual conclusions will not suffice to prevent a motion to dismiss." Jefferson, 106 F.3d at 1250; accord Fernandez-Montes, 987 F.2d at 284; see Tuchman v. DSC Communications Corp., 14 F.3d 1061, 1067 (5th Cir. 1994).

B. State Law Claims

Continental contends that Lewis's state law claims are preempted by § 41713 of the ADA. Under the ADA provision entitled "preemption":

A State, political subdivision of a State, or political authority of at least 2 States may not enact or enforce a law, regulation, or other provision having the force and effect of law related to a price, route, or service of an air carrier that may provide air transportation under this subpart.

49 U.S.C. § 41713(b)(1) (formerly 49 U.S.C.App. § 1305(a)(1)). Through this provision, Congress expressly preempted state law as applied to the price, route, or service of an air carrier. See Morales v. Trans World Airlines, Inc., 504 U.S. 374, 383, 112 S.Ct. 2031, 119 L.Ed.2d 157 (1992); Hodges v. Delta Airlines, Inc., 44 F.3d 334, 336 (5th Cir.1995); Trans World Airlines, Inc. v. Mattox, 897 F.2d 773, 787 (5th Cir.), cert. denied, 498 U.S. 926, 111 S.Ct. 307, 112 L.Ed.2d 261 (1990); O'Carroll v. American Airlines, Inc., 863 F.2d 11, 13 (5th Cir.), cert. denied, 490 U.S. 1106, 109 S.Ct. 3158, 104 L.Ed.2d 1021 (1989). "Congress preempted this area to maintain uniformity and to avoid the confusion and burdens that would result if interstate and international airlines were required to respond to standards of individual states." Butcher v. City of Houston, 813 F.Supp. 515, 516 (S.D.Tex.1993) (quoting Trans World Airlines Inc., 897 F.2d at 787). "Claims that have `a connection with, or reference to' an airline's prices, routes, or services are therefore preempted under the statute." Smith v. Comair, Inc., 134 F.3d 254, 257 (4th Cir.1998) (quoting Morales, 504 U.S. at 384, 112 S.Ct. 2031). Even general statutes, when specifically applied to the airline industry, are preempted by the ADA. See id. (citing Morales, 504 U.S. at 386, 112 S.Ct. 2031). State actions that would affect airline prices, routes, or services "`in too tenuous, remote, or peripheral a manner,'" however, are not preempted. See id. (quoting Morales, 504 U.S. at 390, 112 S.Ct. 2031); Hodges, 44 F.3d at 336; Peterson v. Continental Airlines, Inc., 970 F.Supp. 246, 249 (S.D.N.Y. 1997).

The "clear and manifest" purpose of Congress in enacting the ADA was to achieve the economic deregulation of the airline industry by promoting "maximum reliance on competitive market forces." American Airlines, Inc. v. Wolens, 513 U.S. 219, 230, 115 S.Ct. 817, 130 L.Ed.2d 715 (1995). "Nothing in the Act itself, or its legislative history, indicates that Congress had a `clear and manifest purpose' to displace state tort law in actions that do not affect deregulation in more than a `peripheral manner.'" Charas v....

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