Tan v. Northwest Airlines

Facts:

On May 31, 1994, Priscilla Tan and Connie Tan boarded a Northwest Airlines plane in Chicago bound to the Philippines with a stop-over at Detroit. Upon their arrival, they found out that their baggage was missing. On June 3, they recovered the baggage and discovered that some were destroyed and soiled. They filed an action for damages, claiming that they suffered mental anguish, sleepless nights and great damage. Northwest offered to reimburse the cost of repairs of the bags or purchase price of new bags. The trial court awarded actual, moral and exemplary damages, and also attorney’s fees. The Court of Appeals partially affirmed the decision by deleting moral and exemplary damages. Hence, Tan filed this instant petition.

Issue:

Whether respondent Airline is liable for moral and exemplary damages for willful misconduct and breach of contract of carriage

Held:

We agree with the Court of Appeals that respondent was not guilty of willful misconduct. "For willful misconduct to exist there must be a showing that the acts complained of were impelled by an intention to violate the law, or were in persistent disregard of one's rights. It must be evidenced by a flagrantly or shamefully wrong or improper conduct." Contrary to petitioner's contention, there was nothing in the conduct of respondent which showed that they were motivated by malice or bad faith in loading her baggages on another plane. Due to weight and balance restrictions, as a safety measure, respondent airline had to transport the baggages on a different flight, but with the same expected date and time of arrival in the Philippines. It is admitted that respondent failed to deliver petitioner's luggages on time. However, there was no showing of malice in such failure. By its concern for safety, respondent had to ship the baggages in another flight with the same date of arrival.