An airline that forced an elderly woman to check her bag with her medical devices bears responsibility for her subsequent death after losing the bag, a US appeals court ruled today.
A lower court ruled in 2002 that Americans Airlines parent company AMR and BWIA International Airways should pay $226,238.81 to Caroline Neischer's relatives because she died soon after her bag was lost.
The plaintiff's lawyer, Mr Bruce Altshuler, said it was the first case of its kind. "The significance of the case is that never before has an airline been held liable for the death of a passenger caused by delayed or missing baggage."
Mr Neischer, who spent most of her life in her native Guyana, died at age 75 after flying from Los Angeles to Guyana in 1997.
After Mr Neischer transferred from an American Airlines flight in New York, a ground agent the court said likely worked for American forced her to check a bag that contained a breathing device to treat her respiratory problems.
The agent promised she would be given the bag immediately upon arriving in Guyana. However, the bag was lost and Mr Neischer died days later.
Mr Neischer's five children sued AMR and BWIA Airways, which had proposed paying the $2,000 maximum for lost baggage set by international standards. The lower court ruled the airlines were responsible for a "willful misconduct" death, and thus even the Warsaw Convention limit of $75,000 for an airline death should not apply.
"The seizure of Neischer's bag meets the standard of willful misconduct," the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled. "The district court therefore properly concluded that the seizure of Neischer's bag proximately caused her death."
In its ruling, a three-judge panel sent the matter back to a lower court for additional review as to whether the woman was also partially responsible for her death since replacement medication may have been available in Guyana.