## Facts

- Leonard Schopenhauer bought a round-trip Air France ticket (issued as a multi-page paper booklet) for travel New York–Paris–Cotonou, with stopovers in Paris on the outbound and return.
- At JFK on November 20, 1999, he checked five bags and was required by a cabin attendant to check a sixth, allegedly containing valuable goods worth about $69,000–$70,000.
- Air France accepted the sixth bag and issued a “Limited Release” tag with identifying information; the tag did not contain Warsaw Convention notice language.
- The sixth bag did not arrive in Paris and was returned on January 2, 2000; Schopenhauer alleged it was heavily looted.
- Because the missing bag contained his ticket booklet, Schopenhauer missed his scheduled Paris–Cotonou flight on November 25 and flew on November 26 after rebooking and issuance of replacement tickets.
- On the November 26 Paris–Cotonou flight, he checked six bags; upon arrival, two bags were allegedly destroyed and looted, causing about $2,200 in losses.
- Schopenhauer sued in federal court in New York for losses tied to (1) the missing/looted bag on the New York–Paris leg and (2) the damaged/looted bags on the Paris–Cotonou leg.
- Air France moved for partial summary judgment to (1) apply Warsaw Convention liability limits and (2) dismiss the Paris–Cotonou claims for lack of Warsaw Convention jurisdiction.

## Issues

1. Whether Air France could invoke the Warsaw Convention’s liability limitation for checked baggage based on the ticketing and baggage documentation provided.
2. Whether the “Limited Release” tag’s lack of Warsaw Convention notice defeated the carrier’s ability to limit liability for the sixth bag.
3. Whether a U.S. federal court had jurisdiction under Article 28 of the Warsaw Convention over claims arising from baggage damage on the Paris–Cotonou segment.

## Decision

- The court granted the motion in part and denied it in part.
- The court held that the Warsaw Convention applied and limited Air France’s liability for checked-baggage loss/damage to the Convention’s weight-based cap (absent a higher declared value).
- The court rejected the argument that the “Limited Release” tag served as the operative baggage check whose lack of notice would forfeit the liability limit.
- The court dismissed the claims based on baggage damage on the Paris–Cotonou leg for lack of Article 28 jurisdiction in the Eastern District of New York.

## Legal Principles

- Under the Warsaw Convention, a carrier’s liability for checked baggage is capped on a per-kilogram basis unless the passenger declares a higher value and pays any required additional charge.
- Convention notice and documentation requirements are evaluated functionally; integrated travel documents may satisfy passenger ticket and baggage check requirements if they reasonably inform the passenger that the transportation is subject to the Convention.
- A supplemental baggage tag that lacks Convention notice does not necessarily defeat liability limitation where the passenger’s ticket documentation supplies the required notice for the carriage.
- Article 28 limits permissible fora to those specified by the Convention; a court lacking an Article 28 nexus to a particular segment of carriage must dismiss claims arising solely from that segment.

## Conclusion

The court enforced the Warsaw Convention’s weight-based limitation on recovery for Schopenhauer’s checked-baggage losses and dismissed claims tied to the Paris–Cotonou flight because Article 28 did not permit suit in a U.S. forum for that segment.


Schopenhauer v. Compagnie Nationale Air France, 255 F. Supp. 2d 81 (E.D.N.Y. 2003)