L.A. Lawyer Files Class Action in Midst of Mounting Calls for Railroads
To Strengthen Safety Measures
LOS ANGELES, July 2 /PRNewswire/ -- The following press release is being
issued by The Pfiester Law Corporation, of Los Angeles, California.
Ten surviving victims of the catastrophic head-on collision of a BNSF
freight train and a Metrolink commuter train on April 23rd in Placentia,
California, filed a class action lawsuit against the two railroad companies
today alleging that the crash could have been avoided if BNSF and Metrolink
had invested in advanced technology and made sure that their employees had
adequate time off to rest.
The lawsuit comes on the heels of a $2.125 million jury award for a single
plaintiff against BNSF last month in San Francisco and only a few days after
National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) Chairwoman Marion Blakey told the
U.S. House Railroad Subcommittee that an automatic railroad braking system
would have prevented the deadly wreck. Blakey testified that automatic
braking has been on the NTSB's "Most Wanted List" since 1990 and that without
the systems, "preventable collision accidents will continue to occur and will
continue to place railroad employees and the traveling public at risk."
The Congressional hearing was conducted at the urging of U.S.
Representative Bob Filner (D-San Diego), California's only member of the
subcommittee. Filner is co-sponsoring legislation introduced in Congress in
May that would limit the work hours of train employees and signal workers and
mandate that train workers have clean, quiet sleeping quarters when they are
off duty.
"Chairwoman Blakey's testimony last week before the U.S. House Railroad
Subcommittee was forceful and specific," said Los Angeles attorney R. Edward
Pfiester, Jr., of The Pfiester Law Corporation, of Los Angeles, who represents
the Plaintiffs in both the San Francisco case and the class action filed
today. "Federal investigators are focusing on human error caused by engineer
fatigue as a factor in the BNSF-Metrolink crash, and the highest ranking
transportation safety official in the Nation has testified that railroads
should install automatic braking systems as safeguards for tired engineers and
conductors. This technology has been around for years, yet the railroads
continue to say that more study is needed, while people are dying and being
maimed."
Filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court, Harbauer, et al vs BNSF, et al
alleges that both BNSF and Metrolink bear responsibility for the crash because
they failed to take adequate steps to protect employees and passengers. The
suit seeks compensation for the victims' personal injuries, past and future
wage loss, medical expenses, and punitive damages.
"There are a number of actions that the carriers could have taken to avoid
this horrific crash, had they given as much consideration to safety as they
did to costs," said Pfiester. "BNSF's locomotive engineers, in effect, are
being directed to crash into other trains -- in the case determined by a jury
last month, it was a 'cut' of stationary railcars; in this case,
unfortunately, it was a commuter train. It is very unlikely that this crash
would have occurred if the railroads had proven, long-available technology and
if their employees had adequate rest."
The lawsuit alleges claims against both BNSF and Metrolink in a number of
areas. First, the complaint charges that BNSF was negligent in its operations
and in management's oversight of the railroad's employees. Specifically,
BNSF's "availability policy" allegedly forces engineers and conductors to work
extremely long hours with erratic schedules that prevent regular sleep cycles
and adequate rest. In addition, the complaint cites management error and
gross misconduct on the part of BNSF, based on the railroad's "availability
policy" and calls into question the railroad's intentional decision to save
money by refusing to install a Positive Train Control (PTC) or automatic
braking system.
The PTC system is long-available satellite technology that uses the Global
Positioning System (GPS) to discern when two trains are on a collision course
and to automatically apply the brakes on both trains to prevent a crash. An
automatic braking system also slows trains that go past a yellow signal and
stops them before they go past a red (absolute block) signal. Pfiester said
that BNSF has failed to install PTC technology on all of its locomotives. The
lawsuit also alleges that Metrolink breached its obligation to provide the
"utmost duty of care" to its passengers by failing to install the PTC system
or the automatic braking system on its locomotive.
"The Positive Train Control and automatic braking system has been proven
to be reliable and has been available for several years; in fact, it was used
in Southern California by BNSF for a period," said Pfiester. "Had the BNSF
locomotive been equipped with PTC technology or with signal-related automatic
braking, rather than merely monitored by the railroad's fallible human
engineer and dispatcher, it is highly likely that this horrific crash would
not have occurred."
Pfiester said he has obtained information in deposition indicating that
another major railroad carrier, which is not involved in the crash or lawsuit,
Union Pacific, has installed the GPS system on about 1,500 of its
7,000 locomotives thus far and is moving forward rapidly to install it fleet-
wide.
"The cost of the system is minor when compared to its potential for saving
lives and preventing human trauma and suffering," Pfiester said. At least two
persons were killed and nearly 300 injured in the April 23rd crash.
For years, Pfiester said, BNSF locomotive engineers and employees in train
service -- conductors and those operating switches -- have complained that the
railroad's corporate policy effectively prevents their having regular rest
days and consistent full nights of sleep. In fact, some BNSF employees have
said that management requires them to take off only one weekend per month and
be available to work at least 75% of the time, day and night -- they must meet
both criteria or be cited for discipline. By contrast, the average American,
with a 40-hour workweek, is available for work 22% of each month.
Under federal work-hour rules, a railroad can force employees to return to
work after they have been off duty for eight hours. The result is that many
employees work two eight-hour shifts in one 24-hour period, a cycle that often
is repeated for many weeks. Pfiester said that forcing employees to work such
shifts allows railroads to save huge amounts of money on health, welfare and
vision plans, as well as on retirement benefits. Although a commercial
airline pilot is permitted to fly only 100 hours per month and a truck driver
may be on duty no more than 260 hours per month, railroad operating crews can
and do operate trains up to 432 hours per month.
"This type of shift work interferes with the natural circadian rhythm and
causes a type of 'rolling fatigue,' notwithstanding that these employees are
required to operate moving equipment that weighs millions of pounds," said
Pfiester. "In recent years, BNSF employees' family members have picketed the
railroad over the long hours in several places in Southern California,
including Los Angeles and Bakersfield, out of concern for their loved ones'
safety. In response, BNSF conducted its own 'study' and concluded that its
workers are not affected by lack of sleep. They merely were giving lip
service to this problem, which is pervasive in the industry and patently
dangerous."
The Pfiester Law Corporation is a plaintiff's personal injury law firm
that specializes in major personal injury matters. It has more than 25 years
experience representing injured railroad employees and the public successfully
in lawsuits against railroad corporations, including a substantial
confidential settlement obtained on behalf of the widow and child of the first
person to die in a Metrolink crash, which occurred on November 25, 1992.
Ironically, just prior to that crash, Metrolink and Amtrak officials -- whose
employees operated the trains -- had gone on television touting the systems'
safety.
R. Edward Pfiester, Jr. is the only California lawyer listed as a
"Railroad Law Specialist" in Best Lawyers of America. According to Jury
Verdicts Weekly, Inc., he has won more court cases against railroads in the
past 25 years than any other California lawyer. He holds the "AV" Martindale
Rating, which is the highest rating for legal ability, expertise and ethics by
Martindale-Hubbell, the United States' largest and oldest lawyer rating
company.
More information about the lawsuit and law firm may be obtained by
contacting the Pfiester Law Corporation at (323) 662-6400 or by accessing the
firm's website at http://www.pfiesterlaw.com .
CONTACT: R. Edward Pfiester, Jr.
Victor A. Russo
(323) 662-6400
SOURCE Pfiester Law Corporation
 back to top
Related links:
http://www.pfiesterlaw.com
CONTACT:
R. Edward Pfiester, Jr. or Victor A. Russo,
both of Pfiester Law Corporation, +1-323-662-6400
|
