Miller v. Jet Blue Airlines

Background

Victoria Miller originally filed the lawsuit in the Civil Court of the City of New York on December 16, 2024. Jet Blue Airlines received the summons and complaint on March 15, 2025, and filed a notice removing the case to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York on March 27, 2025. Jet Blue stated that federal jurisdiction existed because Miller’s claim arose under the Montreal Convention, an international treaty governing certain air-carriage claims.

Jet Blue served the removal papers on Miller on or about May 21, 2025, and mailed them to the New York City Civil Court clerk. Despite the removal, the Civil Court continued proceedings. The federal court scheduled a telephone conference about the removal for July 9, 2025. Jet Blue’s counsel appeared, but Miller did not, so the conference did not proceed.

Ruling

The court held that filing the notice of removal immediately transferred authority over the case to federal court and removed the Civil Court’s authority to continue handling it. Until the federal court remands the case, the state court must take no further action. The court therefore stated that the case could proceed only before the federal court and could not proceed before the Civil Court.

The court directed the parties to file a joint proposed case-management plan by July 16, 2025. They also had to provide their availability for an initial pretrial conference and state whether they preferred that conference to be by telephone or in person. The clerk was directed to mail Miller a copy of the order, and Jet Blue was directed to provide a copy to the Civil Court. The order addressed the effect of removal and case management; it did not resolve the underlying claim or state whether Jet Blue ultimately would prevail.