United States v. Waterman Steamship Corporation

GODBOLD, Circuit Judge.

The United States brought this suit to recover excess freight charges paid by it to Waterman Steamship Company as reimbursement for the cost of shipping goods abroad for the Cooperative for American Relief Everywhere, Inc. (CARE), a private, nonprofit voluntary relief organization. The suit was grounded on Waterman’s written certification to the United States that the freight charges were at prevailing rates. Waterman pleaded as an affirmative defense that suit was time-barred by the one-year limitation period prescribed by the bill of lading under which the goods were…