Stahl v. United Airlines, Inc.

Filing 16

ORDER by Magistrate Judge Jacqueline Scott Corley granting 10 Motion to Dismiss Plaintiff's Second Cause of Action (ahm, COURT STAFF) (Filed on 11/23/2015)

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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

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NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

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CATHERINE STAHL,

Case No. 15-cv-04499-JSC

Plaintiff,
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v.

ORDER RE: MOTION TO DISMISS

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UNITED AIRLINES, INC.,

Re: Dkt. No. 10

Defendant.

United States District Court
Northern District of California

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In this personal injury action, Plaintiff Catherine Stahl (“Plaintiff”) seeks to recover

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damages for injuries sustained aboard an international flight when a flight attendant stepped on her

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right foot while operating the service cart, fracturing Plaintiff’s toe. (Dkt. No. 1 ¶ 7.) The

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operative complaint includes two causes of action. The first cause of action alleges negligence

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against Defendant United Airline, Inc. (“Defendant”) under the Convention for the Unification of

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Certain Rules Relating to International Carriage by Air (“Montreal Convention”). Plaintiff brings

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the second cause of action under the International Air Transport Association (“IATA”),

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agreements pursuant to which Defendant and other air carriers agreed to waive damages

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limitations absent proof that the airline took all necessary measures to avoid an accident.

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Now pending before the Court is Defendant’s motion to dismiss the second cause of action

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for failure to state a claim on the grounds that the Montreal Convention provides the sole remedy

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for international passengers seeking damages against airline carriers, so Plaintiff has no private

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right of action under IATA. (Dkt. No. 10.) Plaintiff does not oppose the motion to dismiss. (Dkt.

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No. 15.) And indeed, the Ninth Circuit has explained that the Montreal Convention “governs ‘all

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international carriage of persons, baggage or cargo performed by aircraft for reward,’ [and]

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provides the exclusive remedy for international passengers seeking damages against airline

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carriers” for injuries sustained aboard the aircraft or during the course of embarking or

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disembarking. Narayanan v. British Airways, 747 F.3d 1125, 1127 (9th Cir. 2014); see also El Al

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Israel Airlines, Ltd. v. Tsui Yuan Tseng, 525 U.S. 155, 171-72 (1999) (noting that an international

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passenger’s sole available remedy is under the Montreal Convention). Accordingly, the Court

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concludes that Plaintiff’s IATA cause of action fails to state a claim upon which relief may be

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granted. The Court therefore GRANTS Defendant’s unopposed motion to dismiss the second

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cause of action without leave to amend.

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IT IS SO ORDERED.

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Dated: November 23, 2015

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________________________
JACQUELINE SCOTT CORLEY
United States Magistrate Judge

United States District Court
Northern District of California

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