Kimberly-Clark Corp. v. Lake Erie Warehouse

Plaintiff, a bailor of paper, instituted this action against defendant warehouseman to recover for water damage to paper stored in the latter’s warehouse alleged to have been caused by defendant’s negligence. In addition to denials of allegations in the complaint, defendant pleaded two affirmative defenses, each predicated on an exculpatory provision contained in a rate schedule agreement furnished to plaintiff by defendant. At the conclusion of the trial, on the basis of those provisions, the court granted defendant’s motion for judgment dismissing the complaint and denied plaintiff’s motion…