KATHERINE B. FORREST, District Judge.
On May 2, 2017, plaintiffs Angela I. Ojide and Joshua E. Ojide (PPA Angela I. Ojide) (together, "plaintiffs") commenced this action under Articles 17 and 19of the Warsaw Convention, 49 U.S.C. §§ 40104-05, as amended by the Montreal Convention. Plaintiffs filed an Amended Complaint on May 30, 2017. (ECF No. 10.) Pending before the Court is defendants' partial motion to dismiss plaintiffs' Amended Complaint. For the reasons set forth below, that motion is GRANTED.
The factual allegations below are drawn from plaintiffs' Amended Complaint, (ECF No. 10), and presumed true for purposes of this motion.
On May 23-24, 2016, Plaintiffs, Angelia Ojide and her son, Joshua, traveled from John F. Kennedy International Airport ("JFK") to Port Harcourt, Nigeria, with a layover in Charles De Gaulle International Airport ("Charles De Gaulle") in Paris, France. (Am. Compl. ¶¶ 9-10.) Plaintiffs checked four bags at the check-in counter at JFK, one of which contained Joshua's medically prescribed nutrition. (
Upon plaintiffs' arrival in Nigeria, all five bags were missing; because plaintiffs had none of Joshua's medication, Joshua subsequently suffered from dehydration. (
Under Rule 12(b)(6) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, a defendant may move to dismiss a complaint for "failure to state a claim upon which relief can be granted." Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(b)(6). To survive a Rule 12(b)(6) motion to dismiss, a plaintiff must provide grounds upon which their claim rests through "factual allegations sufficient `to raise a right to relief above the speculative level.'"
In applying that standard, the court accepts as true all well-pled factual allegations, but it does not credit "mere conclusory statements" or "threadbare recitals of the elements of a cause of action."
The Convention for the Unification of Certain Rules for International Carriage by Air, Art. 1 et seq., May 28, 1999, S. Treaty Doc. No. 106-45 (2000) (the "Montreal Convention") "applies to all international carriage of persons, baggage, or cargo performed by aircraft for rewards." Montreal Convention, art. 1, § 1. The Montreal Convention supersedes the Convention for the Unification of Certain Rules Relating to International Transportation by Air, Oct. 12, 1929, 49 Stat. 3000, 137 L.N.T.S. 16 (the "Warsaw Convention"). The United States, France, and Nigeria are all signatories to the Montreal Convention.
Under the Montreal Convention, an airline "carrier is liable for death or bodily injury of a passenger upon condition only that the accident which caused the death or injury took place on board the aircraft or in the course of any of the operations of embarking or disembarking." Montreal Convention, art. 17, § 1. To bring a claim alleging liability under Article 17, a plaintiff must establish that "(i) there has been an `accident'; (ii) resulting in `bodily injury'; and (iii) the incident took place while on board the aircraft or during the operations of embarking or disembarking."
Article 19 of the Montreal Convention establishes carrier liability for "delay in the carriage by air of passengers, baggage or cargo." Montreal Convention, art. 19. Damages under this provision are limited to 1,000 Special Drawing Rights per passenger.
Plaintiffs' first claim focuses on their lost and delayed baggage. Defendant Air France does not challenge that it is liable under Article 19 of the Montreal Convention. Air France has made an offer of judgment, (Defendants' Memorandum of Law in Support of Their Partial Motion to Dismiss the Amended Complaint Under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6) at 1 n.2), so this claim remains open.
Plaintiffs' alleged injuries in their second claim include dehydration, deprivation of food, and various forms of emotional distress. None of these is a "bodily injury" as defined under Article 17 of the Montreal Convention. Neither dehydration nor food deprivation are "bodily injuries" under the Convention.
For the reasons stated above, the Court hereby GRANTS defendants' partial motion to dismiss at ECF No. 20. Plaintiffs' second claim is DISMISSED. The parties are to inform the Court within fourteen days of the issuance of this Opinion of the status of defendant Air France's offer of judgment on Claim 1.
SO ORDERED.