Monrovia – Jurors at the Civil Law Court at the Temple of Justice early this week held the SN Brussels Airline to pay the amount of US$13K for a missing luggage belonging to a Liberian lawyer, Cllr.
Report by Kennedy L. Yangian, [email protected]
The liable verdict handed down by the jurors came as the result of a lawsuit filed to the court during its December 2015 Term by Cllr. Kanneh on action of damages for wrong.
In an eight count petition to the court, Cllr. Kanneh alleged that on July 18, 2015 purchased a round trip ticket from the Management of the SN Brussels to travel to the United States for his annual vacation to meet with his family, friends and other relatives.
Cllr. Kanneh revealed further that at the end of his vacation to the U.S. and upon his arrival back to the Robert International Airport on SN Brussels Flight number 1241 on August 4, 2015, he was told that one of his luggages could not be found.
He said the Management of SN Brussels Airline told him that his luggage may have been placed on another flight and therefore told to that he should gave the management few days to check with other connections and see how his luggage could be identified and return to him.
In the petition, Kanneh also contented that some of the contents in the missing luggage belong to other people who went to his residence to receive their belongings, medications that were in the missing luggage sent by their relatives.
Cllr. Kanneh continued as the few days given him elapsed he made several calls and held conversations with Defendant who later designated a representative in person of Benedict and Benedict in return told him to fill out a Baggage Inventory Form and make a full listing of the items that were in the missing luggage, which he did.
Thereafter, Cllr. Kanneh further alleged that he was advised to do formal complaint to the SN Brussels Customer Relations and he then wrote stating his complaint and sent several reminder letters but received no positive response.
Cllr. Kanneh claimed that the action of the Defendant has caused serious injury to his reputation and embarrassment to his character as a lawyer and statesman to the extent that he is unable to move freely because everywhere he goes especially among his friends and relatives in Monrovia people will began to ask him about the missing luggage.
According to the Liberian lawyer, no matter how much explanation he gives, people doubt him saying that he has converted those items into his personal use and only try to give frivolous excuse or cover -up stories to lie on the airline.
“Where fore and in view of the foregoing laws and facts plaintiff prayed the court to hold the defendant liable to pay to plaintiff the amount of US$12,010.00 as specific damages and US$1,000,000.00 as general damages for the embarrassment and mental anguish defendant’s action had caused,” read the writ.
However, in its reaction and counter argument to Cllr. Kanneh’s missing luggage claim, the Management of the SN Brussels stated that the air carrier is not liable for damage including missing items indeed in the passenger’s checked luggage as mentioned by Cllr. Kanneh and that airline companies have to put in limitation as to their liabilities are concerned where as only clothes and toiletries needed for the travel are checked in luggage and the SN Brussels liability and intervention is limited to these items.
“To the fact that your luggage contained many items which are not allowed to be transported and though you have not sent us any invoices for the rest of the items, I agree on a without prejudice to intervene in 50% of our maximum intervention in baggage incidents being US$788,” read the letter from the customer relations Department of SN Brussels, a copy of which is in the possession of this paper.
But the jurors in their liable verdict stated that having carefully reviewed the evidence and facts in the case unanimously, agreed to hold SN Brussels liable to the plaintiff but the legal counsel excerpted to the verdict and filed a motion for new trial claiming the jurors’ verdict was contrary to the weight of evidence in the case.
Motion for new trial filed by the defense counsel is expected to be heard by the presiding Judge Yussif Kaba where a determination will be made by the court.