Quality King Distribs. v. Celtic Int'l, LLC

Quality King Distribs. v. Celtic Int'l, LLC

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER

This suit stems from the alleged partial non-delivery of two shipments of goods. Plaintiff Quality King Distributors, Inc.¹ ("Quality King"), a shipper, filed a two-count complaint for breach of contract in state court against Celtic International, LLC ("Celtic"). Compl. 1, ECF No. 14-1. The complaint's allegations are straightforward. On March 16 and April 21, 2016, Quality King contracted with Celtic to pick up two separate shipments of goods as set forth in the bills of lading for the shipments and deliver the shipments to Quality King's warehouse in the Chicago area. See Compl. ¶¶ 4, 17. "A bill of lading 'records that a carrier has received goods from the party that wishes to ship them, states the terms of carriage, and serves as evidence of the contract for carriage.'" Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha Ltd. v. Regal-Beloit Corp., 561 U.S. 89, 93, 130 S. Ct. 2433, 177 L. Ed. 2d 424 (2010) (quoting Norfolk S. Ry. Co. v. Kirby, 543 U.S. 14, 18-19, 125 S. Ct. 385, 160 L. Ed. 2d 283 (2004)). Celtic contracted with its shipping agent, non-defendant GSN Trucking, Inc. ("GSN"), [*2]  to deliver the shipments. Compl. PP 5, 19. The bills of lading attached to the complaint list GSN as the shipper. See Compl. Ex. A at 1. GSN picked up the shipments, but not all of the goods were delivered to Quality King's warehouse, causing Quality King to be short $33,128.34 (first shipment) and $29,522.16 (second shipment). See Compl. PP 5-14, 19-26.

Celtic removed this case to this court on the theory that the Carmack Amendment to the Interstate Commerce Act ("Carmack Amendment"), 49 U.S.C. § 14706, preempts Quality King's breach of contract claims. Notice of Removal P 4-7, ECF No. 1; see also Kawasaki, 561 U.S. at 107-09 (describing the history of the Carmack Amendment). The court has before it Celtic's motion to dismiss the complaint for failure to state a claim against it. See Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(b)(6). The parties dispute whether the Carmack Amendment preempts Quality King's claims and, if so, whether the complaint states a claim under the Carmack Amendment.

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