Claims Arising Out Of Misdelivery Of Marijuana Preempted
The plaintiff asserted claims for invasion of privacy, negligent infliction of emotional distress and negligence against FedEx arising out of a package of marijuana that was mislabeled by FedEx and delivered to her. Immediately upon receipt of the package, the plaintiff contacted the police, who expressed concern for the plaintiff and her child, and requested that FedEx refrain from disclosing the actual delivery address. Although the plaintiff and her daughter were not injured, they alleged fear and anxiety as a result of the three men coming to the house to retrieve the misdelivered package.
The First Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the district court's dismissal of the plaintiff's claims on the ground that they were preempted by the Airline Deregulation Act. The First Circuit applied a two-part inquiry focused on 1) whether the plaintiff's claim was predicated on a "law, regulation or other provision having the force and effect of law," and 2) whether the claim was sufficiently "related to" FedEx's prices, routes or services to warrant preemption, and found that these claims arising out of FedEx's mislabeling and misdelivery of a package satisfied the inquiry. In so holding, the First Circuit held that it was irrelevant that the plaintiff was not the customer for whom the service was undertaken. Tobin v. Federal Express Corp., 775 F.3d 448 (1st Cir. 2014).
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