Court Denies Remand In Montreal Convention Delay Case

Judy Nemsick is a Partner in our New York Office.

In Lee v. AMR Corp., No. 15-2666, 2015 WL 3797330 (E.D. Pa. June 18, 2015), the district court denied plaintiff's motion to remand an action seeking damages for denied boarding arising from improper travel documents. Plaintiff had purchased roundtrip tickets for travel beginning and ending in New York that was to include stops in Miami, Belize and Guatemala. The airline refused to allow plaintiff to board the Miami-Belize flight because she lacked a visa. Plaintiff claims the airline misinterpreted the immigration laws of Belize, causing her to miss the flight to Belize and purchase a ticket to Guatemala instead. The complaint sought more than $5,000 in damages.

The airline removed the case to federal court on the ground that plaintiff's state law claims were governed, and...