Dautriel et al v. Colgan Air Inc et al

Filing 66

ORDER granting 41 Motion in Limine to Apply Common Carrier Law of Texas. Signed by Judge Patricia Minaldi on 03/08/09. (crt,Williams, L)

U.S.bISTRICT COURT WESTVN QIST~CT F LOcJFSIANA O rECEiVED- LAXE CHARt.ES

MAR 10 ~
Roe ~AJOELL, CLERK ~ DEPUTY

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT WESTERN DISTRICT OF LOUISIANA LAKE CHARLES DWISION

JOHN DAUTRIEL, INDIVIDUALLY, AND GARY M. SEEMION, IND1VIDUALLY VS.

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DOCKET NO. 07-CV-1735

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JUDGE MINALDI

COLGAN AIR, INC. AND MG : MAG1STRATE JUDGE KAY AVIATION MEMORANDUM ORDER Before the Court is a motion in limine to apply common carrier law of Texas, filed by defendant Colgan Air, Inc. (hereinafter "Colgan") [doc. 41]. Colgan seeks a ruling that the law of Texas governs the standard of care in this case, which is set for jury trial March 23, 2009. A federal district court sitting in diversity applies the choice oflaw rules ofthe state in which it sits to determinewhich state's law governs the dispute before the court. Day & Zimmermann, Inc. v. C/ui/loner, 423 U.S. 3, 4 (1975). Pursuant to La. Civ. Code art. 3543: Issues pertaining to standards ofconduct and safety are governed by the law of the state in which the conduct that caused the injury occurred, if the injury occurred in that state or in another state whose law did not provide for a higher standard of conduct. In all other cases, those issues are governed by the law ofthe state in which the injury occurred, provided that the person whose conduct caused the injury should have foreseen its occurrence in that state. Theprecedingparagraph does not apply to cases in which the conduct that caused the injury occurred in this state and was caused by a person who was domiciled in, or had another significant connection with, this state. These cases are governed by the law of this state. As noted in this Court's October 6, 2008 Memorandum Ruling, the incident and alleged

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thjury occurred in Texas.' Accordingly, Texas substantive law shall apply. See, e.g., Hills v. Brinks, 07-4207, 2008 WL 243944, *7 (ED. La. 01/25/2008). In Texas, the standard of care a common carrierowes is "that degree of care that would be exercised by a very cautious and prudent person, under the same or similar circumstances." See, e.g., SpeedRoatLeasing, Inc. v. Elmer, 124 S.W. 3d 210, 212, 213 (Tex. 2003) (noting that airplanes are "common carriers," given that their primary function is to provide public freight or passenger transportation services); accordingly, IT IS ORDERED that Colgan's motion in limine [doc. 41] is hereby GRANTED. Lake Charles, Louisiana, this ~ day of

(~`fla~u~L20~. ..09
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MINALDI UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE

`[doc. 27]. 2