Hampton v. Federal Express Corp.
United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit
917 F.2d 1119 (1990)
- Written by Josh Lee, JD
Facts
Carl Hampton (plaintiff) was 13 years old and needed a bone-marrow transplant due to cancer. In March 1988, a transplant operation had been scheduled in a hospital where five potential bone-marrow donors had been found. Hampton’s blood was drawn in order to perform tests and determine which donor was the best match. Hampton’s hospital contracted with Federal Express (defendant) to ship a package containing the blood samples to the hospital where the operation was scheduled. Federal Express was not told what was in the package, and the contract expressly limited Federal Express’s liability to $100 for any lost or damaged packages unless a higher amount was negotiated. The package was never delivered. As a result, the blood was never tested, and the transplant operation was cancelled. Hampton died two months later. Hampton, through his father, sued Federal Express, seeking over $3 million in damages for wrongful death.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Re, C.J.)
What to do next…
Here's why 783,000 law students have relied on our case briefs:
- Written by law professors and practitioners, not other law students. 46,200 briefs, keyed to 988 casebooks. Top-notch customer support.
- The right amount of information, includes the facts, issues, rule of law, holding and reasoning, and any concurrences and dissents.
- Access in your classes, works on your mobile and tablet. Massive library of related video lessons and high quality multiple-choice questions.
- Easy to use, uniform format for every case brief. Written in plain English, not in legalese. Our briefs summarize and simplify; they don’t just repeat the court’s language.
