Continental Insurance v. Federal Express Corp.

This appeal is from a stipulated judgment for $109,023.24 in favor of Continental Insurance Company (“Continental”) for goods lost in shipment by Federal Express Corporation (“FedEx”). We have jurisdiction because the parties reserved the right to appeal the district court’s rulings on the applicability of the Original Warsaw Convention and its subsequent amending agreements, the Hague Protocol and the Montreal Protocol No. 4.

I. BACKGROUND

On March 31 and April 15, 1999, FedEx and Comet Electronics Co., Ltd., entered into a contract of carriage, whereby FedEx agreed to ship by air packages containing integrated circuits and memory modules from Hong Kong to Pasadena, California, with delivery to Viken Electronics. Four packages never arrived. The insurer of these cargoes, Continental, was subrogated to the rights of Viken Electronics, the consignee and owner of the goods. Continental filed an action against FedEx in the California Superior Court, alleging causes of action for loss of cargoes under the Warsaw Convention, negligence, breach of contract, breach of the duty to care for property and bailment, and conversion. Continental alleged the losses of shipments “including, but…