Trammell v. Eastern Air Lines
| Decision Date | 13 September 1955 |
| Docket Number | Civ. A. No. 1514. |
| Citation | 136 F. Supp. 75 |
| Court | U.S. District Court — District of South Carolina |
| Parties | Alvin TRAMMELL, Plaintiff, v. EASTERN AIR LINES, a corp., Defendant. |
Wyche, Burgess & Wyche, Greenville, S. C., for defendant.
This matter came before me for hearing on March 10, 1955, upon motion of the defendant, Eastern Air Lines, for summary judgment pursuant to Rule 56 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, 28 U.S.C.A., on the ground that there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and defendant is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. In the alternative, the defendant prays for judgment for plaintiff in the sum of $25.88, representing the purchase price of a ticket purchased by plaintiff from defendant for transportation from Charlotte, North Carolina to Detroit, Michigan.
The motion is based on the pleadings, the affidavits of W. A. Weeks, M. M. Frost, Fred C. Rumler, Henry S. McConnell and Thomas Ratchford, the "Conditions of Contract" attached to plaintiff's ticket, and Rule 11, Local and Joint Passenger Rules Tariff No. PR-3 on file with the Civil Aeronautics Board as provided under Section 483, Title 49, U.S.C.A.
The plaintiff also made a motion for an order of voluntary dismissal.
The gist of the complaint is that on May 27, 1953, plaintiff purchased a ticket from the defendant for air transportation from Charlotte, North Carolina to Detroit, Michigan on Flight No. 714W, scheduled to leave Charlotte, North Carolina at 3:20 A.M. on June 1, 1953. He alleges that he sustained actual damages in the sum of $3,301.76, occasioned by the defendant's failure to permit him to board Flight No. 714W on the morning of June 1, 1953.
The complaint alleges in substance that the plaintiff was going to Detroit to purchase at 10:00 o'clock A.M. on Monday, June 1, 1953 sixteen automobiles which he was going to sell in Greenville, South Carolina at a profit of $200 each and that after being denied transportation on Flight No. 714W he, by long distance telephone, unsuccessfully attempted to change the time of the transaction in order to "save himself considerable money" and that as a result of defendant's failure to transport him he has suffered actual damages in the sum of $3,301.76.
The defendant denied the allegations of damages and set up the applicable Passenger Rules Tariff and Conditions of Contract as a bar to recovery. It alleged that the plaintiff failed to reconfirm his reservation at least six hours before the scheduled departure of Flight No. 714W and that the defendant, under the tariff regulations and contract provisions sold said reservation to another passenger.
The defendant stated in its motion that it would be based upon the pleadings, certain attached affidavits, and the deposition of the plaintiff. In this connection, the record shows that the defendant served notice of taking of plaintiff's deposition on October 16, 1953, and obtained an order for extension of time to answer until a date subsequent to the taking of said deposition. Plaintiff did not appear for the taking of said deposition in response to the notice and subpoena duces tecum served upon him. After receipt of said notice, counsel for plaintiff served upon counsel for defendant notice of motion for a voluntary nonsuit without prejudice. The matter came before the Court at the October, 1954 term of Court, sitting at Greenville, South Carolina, at which time the Court deferred action on both motions until the plaintiff could be orally examined by counsel for the defendant pursuant to the notice and subpoena duces tecum theretofore served. Counsel for plaintiff was advised to make him available for examination at the earliest convenience. The record reveals that although counsel for defendant has diligently sought the examination of plaintiff by deposition, he has not made himself available for that purpose; nor has he filed any affidavits in opposition to the motion for summary judgment. It is a reasonable assumption that the purpose of the motion for voluntary nonsuit without prejudice was (1) to prevent the oral examination of the plaintiff; and (2) to permit counsel to reduce the claimed damages to a figure below the jurisdictional amount and bring a new action in the State Court which could not be removed to the Federal Court and which would thereby deprive the defendant of the liberal discovery provisions available under the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. Counsel for plaintiff very frankly admitted in the oral arguments before me that this is what they intended if the Court permitted plaintiff to take a voluntary nonsuit without prejudice.
On this motion, the Court has considered the facts in a light most favorable to the plaintiff. Thus considered, the facts developed by the pleadings, affidavits and exhibits are as follows:
The plaintiff on May 27, 1953 bought a ticket, No. 0718-961853 from the defendant for transportation from Charlotte, North Carolina to Detroit, Michigan, on Flight No. 714W, which was scheduled to leave Charlotte, North Carolina at 3:20 A.M. on June 1, 1953. The plaintiff contemplated purchasing automobiles in Detroit for resale at a profit of "approximately $200.00 each" in Greenville, South Carolina. There is nothing in the pleadings, affidavits or exhibits to indicate that such an intention or purpose was expressed to the defendant.
When plaintiff checked his ticket with the defendant's agent in Charlotte, North Carolina, defendant discovered from the records that plaintiff had not reconfirmed his reservation before flight time and that his space had been resold to another passenger. To permit plaintiff to board the plane under these circumstances would have resulted in its being overloaded in violation of the Rules and Regulations of the Civil Aeronautics Board. Plaintiff was given a standby slip to permit him to board the flight in case some other passenger failed to claim his seat just before take-off time. Plaintiff was also tendered transportation on Flight No. 752, which was scheduled to leave Charlotte Airport for Detroit at 7:45 A. M. that morning. Plaintiff did not return to check with the defendant either as to boarding Flight No. 714W or Flight No. 752. Defendant tendered back to plaintiff the purchase price of his ticket, $25.88, which he has refused to accept.
The defendant relies on Rule 13(b) (2) of its Passenger Rules Tariff No. PR-3 on file with the Civil Aeronautics Board. In accordance with Rule 44 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, a certified copy of this Rule, in force on May 27, 1953 and June 1, 1953, was filed with the Court as basis for this Motion. It provides in the material part as follows:
The ticket which plaintiff purchased contained the following statement in bold type "Sold Subject To Tariff Regulations Issued By Eastern Air Lines." Among said tariff regulations issued by the defendant and in force at the time in question was the above Rule 13. The filing of these tariffs with the Civil Aeronautics Board is required under the provisions of Section 483 of Title 49, U.S.C.A. The ticket which plaintiff purchased also contained ten "Conditions of Contract" printed thereon. Condition 6 is set forth in plaintiff's complaint and relied upon by him as a part of his cause of action. Condition 7 reads as follows:
Before considering the question of defendant's applicable tariffs on file with the Civil Aeronautics Board and the "Conditions of Contract" printed on plaintiff's ticket, the Court will first dispose of the question of plaintiff's alleged damages. The point is made that based on the allegations of the complaint, plaintiff is not entitled to recover against the defendant any amount other than the sum of $25.88, representing the unused portion of plaintiff's ticket, upon the ground that the other damages are what is termed in the law as special damages, of which there is no allegation or evidence of notice to the defendant when the contract was made.
The complaint does not allege facts sufficient to bring plaintiff's claimed special damages to the knowledge of the defendant at the time the ticket was purchased or the flight was to be made. There is considerable authority to the effect that the defendant is not liable for such special damages under such circumstances. See Einbinder v. Western Union Telegraph Co., 205 S.C. 15, 30 S.E.2d 765, 154 A.L.R. 704; Milhous v. Atlantic Coast Line R. R. Co., 75 S.C. 351, ...
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