Opinion ID: 755762
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: The Jury's Verdict; Judgment as a Matter of Law

Text: 19 When plaintiffs had completed presentation of their case but for the testimony of one expert witness, Icelandair moved for judgment as a matter of law pursuant to Rule 50(a) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure on the ground that there was insufficient evidence that Icelandair had received notice of the court-ordered restrictions on Erna's travel with Elizabeth: 20 The issue that is in dispute ... is whether Icelandair was on notice of the fact that Mrs. Pittman was not allowed to leave the United States with her daughter. 21 And there has been no evidence presented, other than Mr. Grayson's statement that he made a telephone call to Icelandair in April of 1992, advising that there were some restrictions on his ex-wife's travel plans. 22 .... 23 ... I submit that that issue should not even go to the jury because there is no evidence to establish that my client was on notice of any travel restriction with respect to the ex-Mrs. Pittman that they should have acted upon. 24 (Tr. 266-67.) The court reserved decision, stating that there was a substantial question here as to whether or not there was sufficient notice. (Tr. 267.) Icelandair attempted to renew its motion at the close of all evidence, stating that it wished to reassert the points made in its trial memorandum, but the court cut off argument, saying that it would submit the case to the jury and hear argument on the motion while the jury was deliberating. (See Part II.A.1. below.) 25 In submitting the case to the jury, the district court effectively dismissed plaintiffs' negligence claim by refusing to give the jury an instruction on that cause of action. The court submitted the remaining claims of intentional interference with parental custody, intentional infliction of emotional distress, and false imprisonment to the jury; but believing that establishment of Icelandair's liability for its role in Erna's removal of Elizabeth from the United States required proof of the same core facts regardless of the legal theory, the court gave a single set of instructions with respect to liability: 26 The question that you must decide is whether the plaintiff has proved by a preponderance of the evidence that the defendant Icelandair wrongfully aided Erna in transporting Elizabeth to Iceland. 27 In order to find the defendant Icelandair liable for the damage suffered by Mr. Pittman and Elizabeth you must find that Icelandair knew that Erna Pittman had no right to take Elizabeth to Iceland and that by some wrongful act of its own aided or assisted her in removing the child from the United States. 28 (Tr. 349-50.) 29 The court gave the jury a verdict form containing the single liability question, Do you find that plaintiffs have established their claims against defendant Icelandair? (Tr. 359.) The jury answered this question in the affirmative and awarded plaintiffs a total of $15 million. It awarded Frederick $7.5 million in compensatory damages plus $2.5 million in punitive damages and awarded Elizabeth $2.5 million in compensatory damages plus $2.5 million in punitive damages. 30 After the verdict was returned, Icelandair again moved for judgment as a matter of law, renewing its contention that there was insufficient evidence to support plaintiffs' claims. In addition, Icelandair argued that the claims for interference with custodial rights should be dismissed as a matter of law (a) because that cause of action had not been recognized as viable under New York law, (b) because on May 1, 1992, Erna had joint custody of Elizabeth, and (c) because even if such a claim were cognizable, Elizabeth had no standing to assert it. Icelandair moved alternatively for a new trial, contending that the trial court had made errors in evidentiary rulings and in instructing the jury. 31 In a Memorandum Opinion and Order dated July 2, 1997 (Opinion), the district court granted Icelandair's motion for judgment as a matter of law. The court found that while there was sufficient evidence to establish that Icelandair, through its agent Ellerup, had knowingly assisted Erna in her attempt to leave the country surreptitiously, the evidence was not sufficient to establish that Ellerup was aware that Erna's conduct violated Frederick's custody rights or a court order restricting her travel with Elizabeth. The court considered and rejected plaintiffs' argument that Grayson's telephone calls to Icelandair and the suspicious nature of Ellerup's own activities sufficed: 32 The fact that Grayson had telephone conversations ten days earlier with Icelandair employees in Orlando and Baltimore in which he told them of the existence of a court order is not sufficient to establish that Ellerup was aware that Erna Pittman did not have the right to take her children to Iceland when he assisted them in the boarding process. There is no evidence that either of the two individuals with whom Grayson spoke passed on to Ellerup any of Grayson's statements and no reason in logic to assume that they did. 33 While it was obvious to Ellerup that Erna Pittman wished to avoid detection by someone when she was leaving the United States, that fact does not provide a basis for concluding that he knew she was acting in derogation of her ex-husbands' custody rights. 34 Erna Pittman's use of an assumed name in her travel plans is as consistent with the actions of a woman fleeing from an abusive and dangerous ex-husband as it is with an effort to deprive her ex-husband of his lawful custody rights. The desire for secrecy would be the same in both instances and, therefore, the use of assumed names cannot support an inference that Ellerup was on notice that Erna Pittman was engaged in wrongdoing. 35 Opinion at 10-11. The court also noted that while the jury might reasonably have concluded that Ellerup lied at trial, the fact that he gave false testimony was not sufficient to support an inference that he had been aware that Erna's taking Elizabeth to Iceland violated a valid court order. 36 The court also stated that its instructions as to Icelandair's duties had been flawed. In particular, the court noted that it had charged the jury that 37 if an airline has actual notice that there is a court order prohibiting the parent from transporting the child to the place that is the plane's destination, it would be wrongful for the airline to transport the child. 38 Opinion at 4; Tr. 350. The court stated that this instruction was erroneous because Icelandair, as a common carrier, had a duty to transport anyone who sought passage and was not free to refuse to transport Erna and the girls simply because Grayson had informed it that there was a court order prohibiting Erna from removing the girls from Florida. Opinion at 5-6. Accordingly, the court stated that if the evidence were sufficient to permit the imposition of liability on Icelandair, it would grant Icelandair's alternative motion for a new trial; but that relief was mooted by the granting of judgment as a matter of law. 39 There having been no final adjudication of the claims against the defaulting individual defendants, the court entered a final judgment pursuant to Fed.R.Civ.P. 54(b) dismissing plaintiffs' claims against Icelandair. This appeal followed.