Diefenthal v. C.A.B

Stanley and Elka Diefenthal (Plaintiffs) brought suit against Eastern Airlines (Eastern) and Civil Aeronautics Board (Defendant) after buying first class tickets on a flight to Philadelphia that were supposed to be in the smoking section and then being denied seating in that area. The flight attendant harshly told them that the smoking section was full. Plaintiffs sued Defendant on various theories and sued Eastern for breach of contract and for tortiously embarrassing and humiliating them. Eastern moved to dismiss Plaintiffs’ claims for failing to state a claim that would grant them relief. The district court dismissed the claims based on a lack of diversity jurisdiction. In regard to their breach of contract claim, the district court held that the amount of controversy could never possibly exceed the required amount of more than $10,000. In regard to their tort claim, the district court allowed Plaintiffs to amend with a warning that the amount in controversy required for diversity jurisdiction would again be a problem. Plaintiffs amended their complaint to allege that the flight attendant purposefully treated Plaintiffs in a malicious manner when denying them their right to the smoking section, which caused them embarrassment and humiliation, but failed to even state what the flight attendant had said and any physical or emotional damage. They also claimed $50,000 in damages for this claim. Eastern moved to dismiss for lack of subject matter jurisdiction, which the district court granted. The district court concluded that it was not at all possible for the Plaintiffs to recover the required amount in controversy. Plaintiffs subsequently appealed to the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.