COURT OF APPEALS UPHOLDS DECISION TO DISMISS NEGLIGENCE CASE AGAINST SOUTHWEST
May 9, 2022
On April 22, 2022, The Court of Appeal, Second Appellate District (the “Court”) affirmed a recent trial court ruling granting Southwest Airlines Co. (“Southwest”) summary judgment after finding that the airline was not negligent and owed no duty to protect the plaintiff-appellant from an unforeseeable assault committed by another passenger.
As background, the plaintiff-appellant was a passenger on a Southwest flight from Dallas, TX to Los Angeles, CA on which an incident between another passenger, crewmember and unruly passenger ensued. The plaintiff-appellant was seriously injured after being hit and toppled onto by another passenger following a confrontation between two passengers during an unplanned disembarkation of the flight. This prompted the plaintiff-appellant to file suit against the passenger who caused his injury, as well as Southwest, for personal injury damages. In addition, the plaintiff-appellant also asserted one cause of action for negligence against Southwest claiming that Southwest breached its duty of care as a common carrier by failing to control the circumstances of the plaintiff-appellant’s transportation while he was a passenger on the flight. In response, Southwest filed an answer denying liability and asserting various affirmative defenses, and ultimately made a motion for summary judgment to dismiss the claim, arguing that it had no duty to protect the plaintiff-appellant from unforeseeable assaults committed by another passenger. Following a hearing, the trial court granted Southwest’s summary judgment motion, finding that although common carriers like Southwest have a duty to protect passengers from assaults by fellow passengers, there were no triable issues of material fact indicating that (1) the assault was reasonably foreseeable to Southwest; and (2) Southwest would have been able to prevent the injury suffered by the plaintiff-appellant. This prompted the plaintiff-appellant to file an appeal. After considering the same fact pattern, evidence presented, and arguments raised by both parties, the Court also determined Southwest did not have a duty to protect the plaintiff-appellant from the unforeseeable injury caused by another passenger and found that Southwest’s summary judgment motion was properly granted, affirming the trial court’s decision.
If you have any questions, please contact Evelyn Sahr (esahr@eckertseamans.com 202-659-6622) or Drew Derco (dderco@eckertseamans.com 202-659-6665).
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