KEYTESVILLE, Mo. — An Amtrak train attendant injured in the June 27 derailment of the Southwest Chief has become the latest person to file suit over the fatal accident, and apparently the first to name the Missouri Department of Transportation as a defendant.
KSHB-TV reports attorneys representing California-based employee Iesha Coleman say the state DOT was negligent for not addressing conditions at the railroad crossing near Mendon, Mo., where the train struck a dump truck. The crossing was on a state list of locations to be improved [see “Site of Southwest Chief accident had been recommended …,” Trains News Wire, June 28, 2022].
Coleman’s suit, filed in Chariton County Circuit Court, also names Amtrak, BNSF Railway, and truck owner MS Contracting as defendants. Amtrak is being sued over alleged violation of a federal law to protect and compensate railroaders injured on the job.
The TV station says at least 12 lawsuits have now been filed in connection with the derailment.
Good luck on that employee filing suit. The number of deaths caused by the truck pulling in front of the train will deplete insurance coverage of the trucker. All she can get will be payment from employee health coverage.
There is also FELA for the employee’s to sue for.