Vincent Kline, a Norfolk Southern train conductor of 18 years, died on May 5, 2020 from serious injuries sustained the previous November when a train struck him from behind at his job in Allentown, Pennsylvania. Vincent was 61 years old, leaving behind his wife, children and 17 grandchildren.

Earlier this month, Kline’s widow filed a federal lawsuit accusing Norfolk Southern Railway of slipshod and inadequate, profit-driven safety measures, which caused her husband’s death. She is asking for a small amount, $150,000, in damages. When the train bulldozed into Kline, he suffered critical injuries to his neck, back, left hip and left leg. No safety mechanism was in place to alert the experienced conductor of the oncoming train.

The company refused to comment on the litigation. Norfolk Southern operates throughout the entire Eastern half of the US, having raked in an operating revenue of $11.1 billion in 2021. It is a

On Thursday, MARTA settled with the widow of an engineer killed on MARTA tracks in June 2018.

Rob Smith, 38, was killed when a MARTA train struck a truck on the tracks near the Medical Center station. Smith was working to install cell service when the truck ran into him. He died from his injuries.

According to the The Champion Firm, which represented Michelle Smith – the wife of the man killed – MARTA and its insurance company will be on the hook for the $17 million settlement.

“It’s a sense of relief. It’s a sense of closure. It’s a sense of that she did get a full measure of justice for her husband’s death,” said Darl Champion, one of the attorney’s who represented Smith.

Smith’s surviving wife, Michelle, hired Darl Champion of The Champion Firm, P.C., and co-counsel Rudjard Hayes of Sanchez Hayes & Associates, shortly after her husband’s death.

There will certainly be lawsuits against Amtrak following Monday’s derailment, which killed three people and injured dozens more. The commuter train was traveling at 80 mph on a 30-mph stretch of track, according to investigators with the National Transportation Safety Board.

Ordinarily, it’s difficult to forecast the total money damages for one person in any injury case. Each case requires complex calculations incorporating medical bills, future care, and valuations of past and future pain and loss of ability. In the case of a mass accident with multiple deaths and life-changing injuries, it’s even more difficult.

In the case of a train derailment like this, however, the math has been simplified by statute. It’s worth no more than $295 million. Total. For everyone.

The 1997 Amtrak Reform and Accountability Act originally set a $200 million maximum limit for the “allowable awards to all rail passengers, against all defendants, for all claims,

A Georgia teen who lost part of his legs when he was run over by a train has sued the railroad company and operators.

Jacob Ohl, 17, was walking along railroad tracks on March 2 in Liliburn when he was hit by an oncoming train that did not have a functioning camera, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported.

The teen is suing for compensation for his injuries from railroad company CSX and operators Derrick Tyrone Marshall and Clifton Edward Martin, who were running the train.

The lawsuit, which was filed last week, claimed the train conductor never blew the train’s horn to alert the teen, who was wearing headphones. The suit also claims there was no fencing or warning devices for pedestrians.

According to the suit, the engineer and conductor saw Ohl about 1,000 feet before striking him, but the train wasn’t stopped for another half-mile after the accident.

His mom, Fern Cook
“We all feel lost in the overwhelming helplessness of this crazy situation,” Cook said.

Amtrak has agreed to pay up to $265 million in one of the largest rail crash settlements in the United States, for claims related to a high-speed derailment in Philadelphia last year that killed eight and injured more than 200, according to a court order issued on Thursday.

Two masters appointed by Judge Legrome D. Davis of Federal District Court will evaluate the plaintiffs’ claims and make recommendations about how much to award to each person or estate. The judge, who has final approval, can modify the amount.

The masters will consider, among other things, a plaintiff’s occupation, time out of work, lost earnings and future medical expenses in arriving at a sum to recommend to the judge, one of the lawyers for the plaintiffs, David C. Cook, said in an interview on Thursday.

If total damages exceed $265 million, each claim will be decreased proportionately, according to the order.