Document ID: s3://data.kl3m.ai/documents/govinfo/USCOURTS/USCOURTS-ca5-03-10178/USCOURTS-ca5-03-10178-0/pdf.json

Parties Involved:
American Airlines
Appellee
Darren M. Lee
Appellant

Document Text:

1Convention for the Unification of Certain Rules Relating to International Transportation by

Air, Oct. 29, 1929, 49 Stat. 3000, T.S. No. 876 (1934),reprinted in 49 U.S.C. § 40105 (note) (2000)

(hereinafter “Warsaw Convention”).

United States Court of Appeals

Fifth Circuit

F I L E D

January 14, 2004

Charles R. Fulbruge III

Clerk

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS

FIFTH CIRCUIT

____________

No. 03-10178

____________

DARREN M LEE, on behalf of himself and those similarly situated,

Plaintiff-Appellant,

versus

AMERICAN AIRLINES INC,

Defendant-Appellee.

Appeal from the United States District Court

For the Northern District of Texas

Before JONES, EMILIO M. GARZA, and BENAVIDES, Circuit Judges.

EMILIO M. GARZA, Circuit Judge:

Following the delay and ultimate cancellation of Darren Lee’s flight from New York to

London, Lee filed a federal class action complaint against American Airlines, asserting a claim under

Article 19 of the Warsaw Convention.1 Lee sought to recover damages for delay, inconvenience,

 Case: 03-10178 Document: 0051268959 Page: 1 Date Filed: 01/14/2004
-2-

assorted expenses, loss of reasonably foreseeable business, loss of prepaid and/or nonrefundable

vacation expenses, and loss of a “refreshing, memorable vacation.” The district court granted

American Airlines partial judgment on the pleadings, pursuant to FED.R.CIV.P. 12(c), asto damages

for inconvenience and loss of a refreshing, memorable vacation, reasoning that these allegations

amounted to damagesfor mental injuries, unrecoverable under the Warsaw Convention. The district

court subsequently certified this issue for appeal.

On appeal, Lee contends that his damages claims for inconvenience and loss of a refreshing,

memorable vacation are economicdamages and not claimsfor mental anguish damages. Specifically,

Lee alleges American Airlinesinconvenienced himby forcing him to spend time in a terminal without

adequate food, water, restroomfacilities and information regarding the status of hisflight, by forcing

him to spend the night in a dirty, substandard and unsafe motel room, and caused him to lose a full

day of a memorable refreshing vacation. 

We agree with the district court that, as alleged, Lee’s so-called inconvenience damages are

not easily quantifiable and do not result in real economic loss. These alleged damages are merely an

attempted re-characterization ofmental anguish damages. Mental injury damages are not recoverable

under the Warsaw Convention. See Eastern Airlines v. Floyd, 499 U.S. 530 (1991) (finding that

Article 17 of the Warsaw Convention does not allow recovery for purely mental injuries because the

drafters of the Warsaw Convention did not intend to include such a remedy in the Convention). 

Accordingly, we AFFIRM the ruling of the district court. 

 Case: 03-10178 Document: 0051268959 Page: 2 Date Filed: 01/14/2004