KEYTESVILLE, Mo. — Arguments in federal court over an arbitration requirement included in Amtrak ticket purchases remain a sticking point in state court suits from June’s fatal derailment of the Southwest Chief near Mendon, Mo., KMBC-TV reports.
In Thursday arguments in Chariton County Circuit Court, BNSF and Amtrak argued that passengers agreed to settle matters via arbitration, rather than lawsuits, when they purchased their tickets on the train. Attorneys for passengers have asked a federal judge to toss out that arbitration requirement.
The BNSF and Amtrak attorneys asked that the state lawsuits be delayed until the arbitration issue is decided in federal court, renewing a previous request by BNSF [see “BNSF seeks to have Southwest Chief cases decided by arbitration …,” Trains News Wire, Sept. 22, 2022].
Judge Terry Tschannen said he would give attorneys more time to argue their case, and scheduled the next hearing for Dec. 8.
The lead attorney for a group of lawyers representing victims and their families, Grand Davis, argues that because of federal government owns Amtrak, it cannot require anyone to surrender constitutional rights. “They’re clearly trying to do that because we have a constitutional right to trial by jury,” Davis said, according to the station. “… They’re trying to force people into arbitration who didn’t even buy a ticket, didn’t even have any way possible to see this arbitration agreement.”
Four people were killed, including three passengers, and a number of others suffered serious injuries, when the train hit a truck at a grade crossing near Mendon, Mo., on June 27. The National Transportation Safety Board investigation is ongoing [see “NTSB to look at crossing design …,” News Wire, July 22, 2022].
Attorneys for the two sides also told Tschannen they have agreed to work out a date to inspect the locomotives and railcars involved in the crash, and have submitted a letter to the NTSB asking that victims’ families be allowed to review video from the locomotives’ cameras.
Other issues under consideration by Tschannen, KMBC reports, include:
— Setting a trial date for civil lawsuits involving Amtrak employees; attorneys for those employees argue the Federal Employers Liability Act, covering railroad workers and their families, require those cases to move forward. Tschannen said he would consider a date for those cases that would start in eight to 14 months.
— Potential moves for jury trials to Sullivan or Linn counties, following a request by BNSF and Amtrak to move those cases, under a law allowing moves from counties below certain populations [see “Amtrak, BNSF seek change of venue …,” Trains News Wire, Oct. 18, 2022].
Seems like so simple to place the blame on everything but the true cause of this derailment. There is only one – A dump truck driven on the railroad tracks in front of the train. Period stop . Anything else is pure BS.
Harvey, other countries have sane and decent tort laws. We don’t here in USA. In America we have, to use your own term, trainloads of BS, period stop.
Intentional negligence will almost always over rule arbitration in most courts.
I remember saying that once after signing a waiver to go on a cruise excursion in the Dominican and they almost kept me off the bus. I said it so matter of a factly it scared them.
What INTENTIONAL negligence are you suggesting?
None. I am saying it takes proof of intentional or willful negligence for most judges to throw out contractual arbitration.
What really troubles me is that hitting the dump truck at track speed left only the locomotives upright and all the superliner cars on their sides in the ditch. Maybe we need to return to single level cars on passenger trains that operate at track speeds over 50 mph.
Asking for a change of venue before a ruling on arbitration? Looks like BNSF and Amtrak expect to lose that one. Dumb.