Claude on Question 48, Oct 1

I can't quote its holding, because that case doesn't exist.

Varghese v. China Southern Airlines Co., Ltd., 925 F.3d 1339 (11th Cir. 2019) is a fabricated citation. It is, in fact, one of the most famous fake cases in recent legal history. It was generated by ChatGPT and submitted to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York in Mata v. Avianca, Inc. In that case, plaintiff's counsel filed a brief citing Varghese (along with several other non-existent decisions, including "Shaboon v. Egyptair," "Petersen v. Iran Air," "Martinez v. Delta Air Lines," "Estate of Durden v. KLM Royal Dutch Airlines," and "Miller v. United Airlines"). When opposing counsel and the court could not locate them, the attorney produced purported "copies" — also generated by the chatbot.

Judge P. Kevin Castel imposed Rule 11 sanctions, including a $5,000 penalty, in an opinion issued June 22, 2023. See Mata v. Avianca, Inc., 678 F. Supp. 3d 443 (S.D.N.Y. 2023). The opinion specifically dissects the fake Varghese "decision," noting its internal incoherence — e.g., it cited a real Eleventh Circuit case (Zicherman-related material and Ehrlich v. American Airlines) for propositions those cases do not support, and its reasoning degenerated into nonsense partway through.

A few practical notes:

• •The reporter cite is also wrong. 925 F.3d 1339 corresponds to a different, real decision; the page/volume was simply invented to look plausible.
• •The underlying legal issue was real. Mata involved whether the Montreal Convention's two-year limitation period (Art. 35) was tolled by an airline's Chapter 11 bankruptcy stay. The genuine authority runs largely against tolling, treating the period as a condition on the right to sue rather than a statute of limitations. See, e.g., Fishman v. Delta Air Lines, Inc., 132 F.3d 138 (2d Cir. 1997); Kahn v. Trans World Airlines, Inc., 82 A.D.2d 696 (N.Y. App. Div. 1981). Courts have also addressed the interaction with § 362 and § 108 of the Bankruptcy Code.

If you encountered this citation in a brief, memo, or AI-generated research output, treat the entire document as suspect and verify every citation independently in Westlaw, Lexis, or a court's own docket. If you tell me the proposition you were hoping Varghese supported, I'm happy to help you identify real authority on point.