Van Steinburg v. Pacific Southwest Airlines

Plaintiffs appeal from a summary judgment in an action for loss of baggage checked on defendant airlines. We affirm the judgment.

Plaintiff Fink, an employee of plaintiff Van Steinburg, purchased a ticket on a flight of defendant airline from Oakland to Hollywood-Burbank airport. He checked, as regular baggage, sample cases belonging to his employer that contained expensive jewelry. On arrival, the sample cases were not delivered and Fink was told that, through some error, they had been flown to Los Angeles airport. On checking at the latter airport, one of the sample cases was missing and has never been found. Plaintiffs sued for the value of the jewelry, and for damages resulting from plaintiff’s inability to use the contents of that case at a show in Dallas to which Fink had intended to go. The defense, raised on a motion for summary judgment, was that defendants’ liability was limited, by an applicable tariff provision, to $500 for the missing case. The trial court accepted that defense and entered a judgment limiting recovery to $500. We affirm.

*844 It is admitted that plaintiff Fink was aware of the tariff provision and of the availability to him of additional…