The Montreal Convention does not provide for airlines to try and exempt luggage items / damage to case
e.g. AA trying to avoid paying out on damage to wheels - which it once tried with me
Where the convention applies, the airline cannot create its own exemptions to the it. Article 17 states
Originally Posted by Montreal
2. The carrier is liable for damage sustained in case of
destruction or loss of, or of damage to, checked baggage
upon condition only that the event which caused the
destruction, loss or damage took place on board the aircraft
or during any period within which the checked baggage
was in the charge of the carrier. However, the carrier is not
liable if and to the extent that the damage resulted from the
inherent defect, quality or vice of the baggage. In the case
of unchecked baggage, including personal items, the carrier
is liable if the damage resulted from its fault or that of its
servants or agents.
3. If the carrier admits the loss of the checked baggage,
or if the checked baggage has not arrived at the expiration
of twenty-one days after the date on which it ought to have
arrived, the passenger is entitled to enforce against the
carrier the rights which ß ow from the contract of carriage.
Where there is a law governing a matter , the airline cannot exempt itself from its provisions
Initiating a small claim against a company is generally not too difficult and I expect that the airline will capitulate as soon as a reasonably worded claim was lodged. $2043 would be enough to make it worth pursuing for me
Of course, if the OP was on a domestic journey , then it is irrelevent