A deadhead crew hauler van lost control in snow and ice and rolled over, injuring several of the occupants of the van and killing the driver. The railroad claimed the accident was partially the fault of the passengers, who had authority to control the driver. One of the passengers suffered brain...
The statute of limitation on railroad injury claims is generally three years, and it starts to run from when the employee knew or should have known there was an injury caused by work. In one case we handled, the employee injured his knee 15 years earlier and had settled the claim for a small amount...
Two trains collide on the main line at a high speed and everyone on board is killed. In one of the cases, the railroad attempted to blame the accident on the train crew and actually sued the deceased employee for the cost of replacing the locomotive and other equipment destroyed in the accident. ...
We have handled several cases involving injuries caused when a grab iron unexpectedly breaks in use. Under general law, we would normally have to prove the railroad knew or should have known the grab iron was defective and likely to break. The Safety Appliance Act imposes strict liability on the...
Conductor is riding rail car through an industry. Steel pallets are left too close to the track and conductor’s leg is pinched between a pallet and car. Railroad tries to blame employee for his own injury. We prevailed and obtained a substantial confidential settlement.
Industry worker is working on top of railroad car, brakes fail to hold and car starts to roll. Poorly conceived fall protection line drags employee off car and causes him to fall to ground and suffer severe injury. Employer industry provided worker’s compensation and was immune from suit. We...
Longtime switchman had dominant hand crushed between railroad cars during switching. Employee was alone and there were no other witnesses. Railroad spent a substantial amount of money on expert witnesses and claimed accident was employee’s fault. Railroad also claimed employee could work as a...
We represented approximately 30 passengers and train crew who suffered varying injuries when a passenger train derailed due to defective track. As of this point, all but one of those claims have been resolved.
Two trains approach each other on main line track. Train 2 disregards stop signals and collides with the middle of train 1, without braking, at 50 mph. Engineer of train 1 is surrounded by wreckage but suffers no physical injury. Claim settled out of service for substantial confidential amount...
We represented approximately 30 passengers and train crew who suffered varying injuries when a passenger train derailed due to defective track. As of this point, all but one of those claims have been resolved.