Court Opinion

ID: 9465098
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-05 00:35:33.863289+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:38:58.201425
License: Public Domain

McKAY, Circuit Judge,
dissenting:
The majority acknowledges that the uniform bill of lading notice requirement generally will be satisfied by “any written document, however informal, which indicates a claim for damages . . . and identifies the shipment.” Accord, Georgia, Fla., & Ala. Ry. v. Blish Milling Co., 241 U.S. 190, 36 S.Ct. 541, 60 L.Ed. 948 (1916). Our opinion in Loveless v. Universal Carloading & Distrib. Co., 225 F.2d 637 (10th Cir. 1955), illustrated how easily the notice requirement is met by holding that the railroad’s own letter acknowledging shipping damages satisfied the requirement of a written claim, despite the fact that the claimant himself filed no writing. In the case before us, however, the majority upholds a summary judgment of noncompliance. It does so even though the claimant submitted two writings to the railroad which gave notice of claimed shipping damages.
On July 19 and August 8,1975, defendant Littleton drafted letters to Santa Fe indicating that damage had occurred to vehicles transported under the parties’ contract. These letters, relevant portions of which are quoted in the majority opinion, more than satisfy the applicable authorities on the issue of written notice. They also comply with the underlying purpose of the requirement — to give the railroad an opportunity promptly to investigate a claim. Georgia, Fla., & Ala. Ry. v. Blish Milling Co., 241 U.S. at 196, 36 S.Ct. 541. We observed in Loveless that:
[t]o satisfy the requirements of Sec. 2(b) the writing need not be in any particular form. It is sufficient if it apprises the carrier that damages have occurred for which reparations are expected, so that the carrier may make a prompt investigation consistent with the “practical exigencies of the situation.”
225 F.2d at 639. A perusal of the letters drafted by Littleton reveals that they did give notice that damages had occurred and that reparations were expected.
Since the writings are at least as explicit as our precedent requires, the only other basis for holding them inadequate as a matter of law would have to be that they were directed to the wrong pigeonhole in the railroad’s corporate empire. Surely we do not mean to say that an otherwise adequate notice of claim fails because it was directed to the wrong department. Even if that were the general rule, it would not justify summary judgment in this case. The August 11 letter from Santa Fe’s treasurer demonstrates that at least one of the written notices came in a timely manner to the attention of a senior corporate official. Indeed, the August 11 letter reveals that the treasurer had discussed the matter with the railroad’s own claim department, for it said: “Our claim department advises they have not received a claim filed by you.” At the very least, a factual issue is presented as to whether Littleton’s letter of July 19 ulti*1242mately reached the “correct” department even if there was no duty on the part of the “incorrect” department to forward it to the appropriate pigeonhole.
Once it is shown that some kind of a writing identifying a claim has been sent to someone in the railroad’s corporate structure, the adequacy of that notice is a fact question to be determined from the evidence. It would be a rare case indeed where summary judgment would be appropriate once such a writing has been sent. Once a motion for summary judgment has been made, all reasonable doubts as to the existence of a material fact must be resolved against the moving party. Zampos v. United States Smelting, Ref. & Mining Co., 206 F.2d 171 (10th Cir. 1953); 6 Moore’s Federal Practice § 52.27[1] (1976). Here the indications that Santa Fe had adequate notice are so strong as to render doubtful any finding other than compliance with the notice requirement. The absence of detailed monetary descriptions of the claim, of course, is not fatal to the validity of the notice. Thompson v. James G. McCarrick Co., 205 F.2d 897 (5th Cir. 1953).
Since summary judgment was based on noncompliance with the notice requirement, I would reverse and remand for trial on the issue of the adequacy of the written notice which was given.