U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York Clarifies Applicability of Montreal Convention to Delayed Transportation of Human Remains
In a two-part opinion, the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York dismissed a lawsuit filed by the family of a deceased Pakistani-American whose remains were not loaded onto a scheduled flight to Pakistan, leading to an unplanned burial in the United States.
The family members alleged various state law causes of action, including loss of sepulcher, negligence, gross negligence, negligence per se, negligent infliction of emotional distress, fraud, loss of services and breach of contract, against the air carrier, Pakistan International Airlines (“PIA”), its cargo handler Swissport, and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. After pre-trial discovery concluded, the parties cross-moved for summary judgment. Defendants argued that the human remains were “cargo” for purposes of the Montreal Convention, and that the failure to load such remains onto the scheduled flight constituted a delay under Article 19 of the Convention. As frequent readers of this blog will recall, the Montreal Convention controls a party’s remedies for injuries arising from international travel between signatory nations (which include those at issue in this case), and therefore as a treaty of the United States, preempts all state law claims.