Victim of train detrailment suffers closed head injuries, multiple fractures
Mass Tort - Negligence
Personal Injury - Brain Injury
Los Angeles County Superior Court
Plaintiff was a passenger on a train during the Glendale Metrolink Crash and suffered multiple catastrophic injuries. Plaintiff obtained one of the highest settlements generated in the entire coordinated action.
Settlement
$3,100,000

Plaintiff was a 56 year old actuary riding in a train car when he became one of the victims of the “Glendale Metrolink Crash.”  Plaintiff was riding in the second passenger car when the train collided with a vehicle left on the tracks by an individual attempting suicide.

Plaintiff contended that the train conductor was speeding and inattentive.  He failed to immediately trigger emergency brakes on seeing the reflection of the vehicle on the tracks which experts testified would have prevented the derailment. Further, the failure to have an engine pulling, i.e. at the front of the train, as opposed to the engine in the rear of the train pushing the cars in front, was unsafe as the weight of an engine striking the vehicle abandoned on the tracks would have prevented derailment and the multiple deaths and catastrophic injuries that followed. 

Defendant denied the conductor was speeding or inattentive, and that he did trigger the emergency brakes but the distance between the train and the vehicle was too short to prevent impact. Defendant further contended that the incident was the fault of the individual who left his vehicle on the tracks. Defendant also argued that the “push” method of leading with a passenger car as opposed to any engine was reasonable, safe, and consistent with passenger railroad standards/practice.  Finally, Defendant further claimed its monetary liability was capped by statute and federal law pre-empted many of Plaintiffs’ legal theories and scope of damages.

Plaintiff suffered closed head injuries, and was in an induced coma for 10 days.  When he woke, he was left with residual cognitive deficits which rendered him unable to continue to work as an actuary.  He also suffered fractures of several facial bones requiring extensive plastic surgery and reconstruction. In addition, Plaintiff suffered internal injuries to his spleen and kidneys.  Plaintiff largely recovered from his facial and internal injuries but continued to suffer from cognitive problems, headaches, and PTSD.

Defendant did not dispute the nature and extent of Plaintiffs injuries. 

Given the number of claimants and the limited pool of funds available to compensate all of the victims, Plaintiff obtained one of the highest settlements generated in the Glendale Metrolink Crash cases.