Air Canada rejects Brink's allegations, denies 'careless' conduct in $24M gold theft

Air Canada has fired back in a lawsuit by security firm Brink's, saying the airline bears no responsibility for the daring theft of $23.8m in gold and cash from its facilities at Toronto's Pearson airport earlier this year. A thief walked away with the costly cargo after presenting a phoney document at an Air Canada warehouse on April 17, according to the Brink's filing last month. In a Nov. 8 statement of defence, Air Canada rejected "each and every allegation" in the Brink's suit, saying it fulfilled its carriage contracts and denying any improper or "careless" conduct. The country's largest airline goes on to say that Brink's failed to note the value of the haul on the waybill — a document typically issued by a carrier with details of the shipment — and that if Brink's did suffer losses, a multilateral treaty known as the Montreal Convention would cap Air Canada's liability. "Brink's Switzerland Ltd. elected for its own reasons not to declare a value for carriage and to pay the standard rate for the AC Secure services product and, to Air Canada's knowledge, elected not to insure these shipments," the Air Canada filing reads, adding that Brink's was "fully aware of the consequences." In Federal Court filings last month that claim breach of contract and millions of dollars in damages, Brink's said an "unidentified individual" gained access to the airline's cargo warehouse and presented a "fraudulent" waybill shortly after an Air Canada flight from Zurich landed at Pearson.<br/>