Gozon wins case versus Emirates Airlines | GMANetwork.com - Corporate - Articles

Gozon wins case versus Emirates Airlines

November 17 2016

Makati City Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 57 Presiding Judge Honorio E. Guanlao, Jr. decided in favor of Felipe L. Gozon, Chairman and CEO of broadcast giant GMA Network, in a complaint that he filed against international air carrier Emirates Airlines for breach of International Carriage contract.

The complaint stemmed from an incident in December 2013 when Emirates Airlines failed to deliver on time a piece of luggage owned by Gozon, who was then traveling with his family in South America.

In his decision promulgated on September 8, 2016, Judge Guanlao held that the airline committed gross negligence in failing to perform its obligations under its contract of carriage over the goods or luggage of its passenger. 

The Court found that Gozon was given false and misleading information by the carrier’s personnel regarding the whereabouts of his luggage, which contained, among other personal belongings, prescription medicines that the plaintiff must take twice a day, resulting in his inconvenience and anxiety. 

“In breaching the contract of carriage, the defendant airline is shown to have acted fraudulently or in bad faith, the award of moral exemplary damages is proper,” the Court declared.

In his 6-page decision, Judge Guanlao added that the airline’s contention that the extent of its liability for breach of contract should be limited to the boundaries set in the Warsaw Convention was pointless. Citing a similar airlines case decided by the Supreme Court in 1993, the RTC reiterated that the Warsaw Convention “does not regulate, much less exempt, the carrier from liability for damages for violating the rights of its passengers under the contract of carriage, especially if wilful misconduct on the part of the carrier’s employees is found or established.”

In deciding in favor of Gozon, the RTC ordered the defendant to pay moral and exemplary damages, attorney’s fees, and costs of suit.

advertisement

Elsewhere on GMA

advertisement