Martin v. North American Van Lines, Inc., A97A0290
| Decision Date | 15 April 1997 |
| Docket Number | No. A97A0290,A97A0290 |
| Parties | , Fed. Carr. Cas. P 84,050, 97 FCDR 1821 MARTIN v. NORTH AMERICAN VAN LINES, INC. et al. |
| Court | Georgia Court of Appeals |
Snellings & Ferguson, Stanley T. Snellings, Atlanta, for appellant.
Nelson, Mullins, Riley & Scarborough, Richard B. North, Jr., Mary C. Cauthen, Atlanta, for appellees.
Herbert L. Martin, Jr. sued North American Van Lines, Inc. (North American), Glaze Moving & Storage Company (Glaze), and Lynco, Inc. d/b/a Central Maine Moving & Storage (Lynco) for breach of contract, fraud, and intentional infliction of emotional distress in connection with the move of his household goods. Arguing that Martin's claims were preempted by the Carmack Amendment, 49 USC § 14706 (formerly 49 USC § 11707), the defendants moved for summary judgment. The trial court granted the motion, and Martin appeals.
Martin executed a service agreement with Lynco, an agent of North American, for the move of Martin's belongings from Bucks Harbor, Maine, to Dahlonega, Georgia. Pursuant to this agreement, Martin received a guaranteed, not-to-exceed price of $3,223.10 for the move. This price was based upon a specified number of items shipped and a certain weight for those items. Upon arriving in Dahlonega, Martin was informed that he would have to pay additional sums for the move, as the number of items shipped and the weight of those items had exceeded the figures used to set the guaranteed price. Martin then sued for breach of the service agreement for failure to honor the guaranteed price. He also claims he was defrauded, and claims the defendants' actions constituted intentional infliction of emotional distress.
1. Relying upon Moffitt v. Bekins Moving & Storage, 818 F.Supp. 178 (N.D.Tex.1993), the trial court found that all of Martin's state law claims were preempted by the Carmack Amendment, 49 USC § 14706. The Carmack Amendment establishes the liability of motor carriers and freight forwarders who operate in interstate commerce under receipts and bills of lading. Because the parties in this case had a bill of lading, the trial court found, based upon Moffitt, that all of Martin's state law claims were preempted by the Carmack Amendment.
Although Moffitt is factually similar, "the United States Supreme Court is the only federal court whose opinions this court is bound to follow." Phillips v. MacDougald, 219 Ga.App. 152, 155(2)(f), 464 S.E.2d 390 (1995). Furthermore, as there is a split of authority in the federal courts regarding preemption and the Carmack Amendment, see Sokhos v. Mayflower Transit, 691 F.Supp. 1578 (D.Mass.1988) (), we decline to decide this case on the basis of Moffitt.
Instead, it is clear from the Carmack Amendment itself that liability is imposed only on a carrier "for the actual loss or injury to the property " caused by the carrier. (Emphasis supplied.) 49 USC 14706(a)(1). Here, Martin is clearly not suing for any loss or injury to his property. The Carmack Amendment is therefore inapplicable, and it cannot preempt any of Martin's claims. See Clark v. Messer Indus., 222 Ga.App. 606, 475 S.E.2d 653 (1996) (). The trial court therefore erred in granting summary judgment on this basis.
2. The inapplicability of the Carmack Amendment notwithstanding, a judgment right for any reason will be affirmed on appeal. See Schneider v. Tri Star Intl., 223 Ga.App. 85(1), 476 S.E.2d 846 (1996). We must therefore conduct a de novo review of the evidence in order to determine whether summary judgment was appropriate on any of Martin's claims. See Howell v. Styles, 221 Ga.App. 781, 784(4), 472 S.E.2d 548 (1996). "The standard for granting summary judgment is that the moving party must demonstrate that there is no genuine issue of material fact and that undisputed facts, viewed in the light most favorable to the nonmoving party, warrant judgment as a matter of law." Id.
(a) Summary judgment was appropriate on Martin's claim for breach of contract. Although he argues that North American breached the contract by charging him more than the guaranteed, not-to-exceed price, the plain language of the service agreement indicates that "the guaranteed price charge includes only those quantities and services indicated as guaranteed." It also states that "additional services requested or required and not guaranteed will be documented and will be added to the guaranteed price." The quantity indicated as guaranteed was 188 items. However, the uncontroverted evidence shows that Martin actually moved approximately 288 items and exceeded the weight limit contained in the contract by 4,000 pounds. The guaranteed price was therefore qualified by the language of the service agreement itself, and North American was within its rights when it charged Martin for the additional items. Martin having presented no other evidence of how North American breached the contract, summary judgment on this issue was therefore proper.
(b) Martin also claims he was defrauded due to misrepresentations regarding the guaranteed price. In support of this claim, he states that although he told a Lynco representative that he would have more than 188 items, the representative still assured him that he could get the $3,223.10 guaranteed price. He contends that the Lynco representative intentionally ignored the volume of goods to be shipped in order to "lowball" him into signing the service agreement, then raised the price on him after the move. The defendants deny these allegations.
City Dodge v. Gardner, 232 Ga. 766, 768, 208 S.E.2d 794 (1974). "If the defrauded party elects to affirm the contract and sue for damages for fraud and deceit he is bound by the contract provisions." (Citation and punctuation omitted.) Orion Capital Partners, L.P. v. Westinghouse Elec. Corp., 223 Ga.App. 539, 542(2)(b), 478 S.E.2d 382 (1996).
In this case, Martin elected to affirm the...
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