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Emergency personnel work Dec. 1, 2013, at the scene of a Metro-North train that derailed just north of the Spuyten Duyvil station in the Bronx, N.Y. Four people were killed and about 70 more were injured when the Manhattan bound train derailed shortly after 7 a.m.(Photo: Seth Harrison, The (Westchester County, N.Y.) Journal News)
NEW YORK<span style="color: Red;">*</span>—<span style="color: Red;">*</span>The legal tab for two commuter-railroad derailments, including one of the deadliest crashes in its 33-year history, stands at more than $38.4 million and is certain to grow in coming years, a Journal News investigation has found.
The bulk of the payouts — $28.2 million in settlements and legal costs — went to injured passengers or the families of four riders killed Dec. 1, 2013, when a speeding Manhattan-bound Metro-North train derailed along the Hudson River near Spuyten Duyvil in the Bronx, according to documents obtained under New York's Freedom of Information Law. Of that, $22.2 million went to settlements and another $6 million to legal expenses.
The records obtained show that another $9.2 million in settlements has been paid to some of the 73 passengers injured when a New Haven Line train derailed May 17, 2013, near Bridgeport, Conn., and hit a train headed in the opposite direction. Another $1 million went to legal costs and expenses.
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The two incidents, less than seven months apart, were among the first in a series of horrific accidents involving Metro-North trains, culminating in February when a sport-utility vehicle driven by Ellen Brody entered a crossing in the path of a northbound train in Valhalla, N.Y. Five passengers and Brody, a mother of three from Edgemont, N.Y., were killed in the deadliest day in Metro-North history.
The incidents spurred federal probes and led to questions about safety practices at the nation’s busiest commuter railroad and its devotion to on-time service.
“Before all this happened, we all thought that Metro-North was safe. We had no idea how unsafe it had become.”
Jim Cameron, Commuter Action Group
“That number is huge,” said Jim Cameron, founder of Commuter Action Group, which advocates for Metro-North passengers. “I think it’s just another cost that has to be kept in mind when we look back at the history of the railroad and try to figure out what went wrong.
"Before all this happened, we all thought that Metro-North was safe," he said. "We had no idea how unsafe it had become.”
The settlement numbers are likely to grow. To date, 174 of 292 claims in five major accidents since May 2013 have been resolved, most through settlements, Metro-North officials said.
Claims include damages sought for personal injuries as well as lost or destroyed property, railroad officials say. Metro-North’s insurance carriers will pay.
Lawyers with pending claims in the Spuyten Duyvil crash accuse Metro-North of an aggressive push to settle pending lawsuits to prevent more information about events leading up to the crash from coming out. Federal safety investigators say engineer William Rockefeller nodded off at the controls of the Hudson Line train because of an undiagnosed case of sleep apnea coupled with lingering fatigue from a recent shift change.
Lawyer Howard Hershenhorn said he believes evidence indicates that Metro-North’s parent company, New York's Metropolitan Transportation Authority, or Rockefeller knew about safety issues that might have prevented the crash. Rockefeller was going 82 mph along a curve with a 30 mph speed limit when the train derailed.
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Hershenhorn represents the estate of Kisook Ahn, a 35-year-old Queens, N.Y., nurse returning home from a night shift in Ossining, N.Y., when she was killed. He is urging a Bronx judge to allow him to ask a jury for punitive damages — a move that could increase any potential payout —- should the case go to trial.
“We believe that there may be evidence in discovery which will show the knowledge of the MTA and Rockefeller rises to the level of punitive damages,” he said, declining to be more specific. Metro-North declined comment on the allegations.
Metro-North passenger train lays on its side Dec. 1, 2013, after derailing on a curved section of track in the Bronx borough of New York.<span style="color: Red;">*</span>(Photo: Mark Lennihan, AP)
Rockefeller’s lawyer, Jeffrey Chartier, noted that Bronx prosecutors cleared his client of criminal charges earlier this year.
“There’s been no finding in any of the settled lawsuits attributing any blame to Mr. Rockefeller,” Chartier said.
Rockefeller has not been fired from the railroad but is classified as out of service, meaning he cannot collect a salary, Chartier said
“Metro-North is literally throwing money at us to get these cases settled prematurely,” said Michael Lamonsoff, who represents Dr. Denise Williams, a Beacon, N.Y., dentist whose injuries have made it impossible to return to work. “I believe they’re trying to sweep these cases under the rug and get them out from under the spotlight.”
Lamonsoff said he’s unwilling to settle until he knows the long-term effects and costs of his clients’ injuries.
Lawyer Robert Vilensky represents former New York City Police Officer Eddie Russell of New Windsor, N.Y., who suffers from post-traumatic stress.
“I really think that settling is something of a cop-out,” Vilensky said. “They’ve tried to settle my case at least four times. To me, there’s something there. I don’t know what it is. I don’t think they want to testify about it.”
Russell was drifting off to sleep when the train crashed, according to his lawyer.
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“He looked outside the car, and it was headed for the river,” Vilensky said. “He thought his life was over.”
Also killed in the Bronx crash:
It’s unclear from court records whether the Lovell and Smith cases have been resolved. A lawsuit filed on Ferrari’s behalf still<span style="color: Red;">*</span>is pending.
Claims also are<span style="color: Red;">*</span>pending in three other major accidents with no significant settlements so far, records show:
May 28, 2013. Eleven days after the Bridgeport derailment, a Metro-North track foreman, Robert Luden, 52, of East Haven, Conn.,<span style="color: Red;">*</span>was killed when an eastbound train struck him as he worked on tracks near West Haven, Conn., that were supposed to be out of service.
The accident occurred after a rail traffic trainee working at Grand Central Terminal mistakenly removed a computer block used for sections of track under repair, according to federal investigators.
March 10, 2014. Track worker James Romansoff, 58, of Yonkers, N.Y.,<span style="color: Red;">*</span>was killed when a Poughkeepsie-bound train struck him at Park Avenue and East 106th Street in Manhattan while he was working to restore power to tracks closed for weekend maintenance.
Feb. 3, 2015.<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Six people were killed when a northbound Harlem Line train hit Brody's SUV near Valhalla after a grade-crossing gate came down on it. The SUV caught fire and parts of the third rail broke loose and pierced the train’s first two cars.
So far, Metro-North has spent about $200,000 in legal expenses on those cases, the records show.
Passengers exit a Metro-North train that struck a sport-utility vehicle Feb. 3, 2015, in Valhalla, N.Y.<span style="color: Red;">*</span>(Photo: Albert Conte, The (Westchester, N.Y.) Journal News)
Luden, a father of two, was a Navy veteran who had worked for Metro-North for 27 years. His death prompted an outcry from union leaders who warned that the railroad had been slow to replace a workforce nearing retirement age with qualified employees.
Marisa Bellair, the lawyer for Luden’s estate, said she has had settlement discussions with Metro-North lawyers but has yet to reach an agreement.
“It will either settle or proceed to be put on the trial docket,” she said.
In the Bridgeport derailment cases, Metro-North has admitted liability and is working toward settlements that hinge on the extent of each person’s injuries, lawyers say. Passengers suffered brain damage, back and spinal injuries as well as post-traumatic stress disorder, said lawyer Joel Faxon, who has settled five of the 10 claims he’s filed for passengers.
“It’s not like a car accident,” Faxon said. “To a person, they have to relive this every time they get back on a train and they’re digging their hands into the seat. It’s a place you don’t want to be.”
Related:
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Federal report: Metro-North lets passenger safety lapse
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NTSB already was investigating Metro-North
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