Opinion ID: 755762
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Dismissal of Negligence Claims

Text: 75 Plaintiffs also contend that if we find the evidence insufficient to sustain the verdict in their favor for intentional interference with parental custody, they are entitled to a remand for a new trial on Elizabeth's claim of negligence and Frederick's claim of gross negligence, which the court refused to submit to the jury. We disagree. 76 In order to establish a negligence claim under New York law a plaintiff must show, inter alia, that the defendant owed the plaintiff a duty of care and breached that duty. See, e.g., Stagl v. Delta Air Lines, Inc., 117 F.3d 76, 79 (2d Cir.1997). For example, in Johnson v. Jamaica Hospital, in which parents sued a hospital for negligent infliction of emotional distress resulting from the abduction of their infant daughter from the hospital nursery, the New York Court of Appeals held that the defendant hospital owed no duty directly to the parents to prevent the child's abduction. See 62 N.Y.2d at 526-30, 478 N.Y.S.2d at 839-41, 467 N.E.2d 502. 77 In the present case, Frederick similarly lacked a viable negligence claim because Icelandair owed him no duty of care. In relation to Icelandair, Frederick was a member of the general public; he had not entered into any special relationship with the airline. And although Icelandair certainly owed some duties of care to Elizabeth as a passenger, we have seen no authority for the proposition that a common carrier has a duty--either generally or based on oral representations--to ensure that a minor traveling with a custodial parent is not being transported in violation of a court order. As discussed in Part II.A.3. above, the telephone calls by Grayson to Icelandair's Orlando and Baltimore-Washington offices were insufficient.