The FELA attorneys at Peter Higgins Law represented B.Y., a 43-year-old sleeper-car attendant who was working on an Amtrak train from Chicago to Ft. Worth, TX. In Ft. Worth, a very large man boarded the train with two oversized suitcases. B. Y. saw the man boarding the train and asked him to check his suitcases in the baggage compartment. The man refused, and started to walk up the spiral staircase inside the sleeper car to get to his room. B.Y. was close behind the man, attempting to assist him. Suddenly, the man lost his balance and fell backwards, landing on top of B.Y. pinning her against a wall at the bottom of the staircase. As a result, she suffered a torn rotator cuff in her right shoulder which required surgery.
Peter Higgins Law' attorneys filed suit against Amtrak under the FELA. Unlike workers in other jobs, railroad employees cannot receive workers’ compensation simply by proving that they were hurt on the job. Under the FELA, a railroad employee has to prove that the railroad was somehow negligent in causing their injuries. In this case, Amtrak claimed that it was not negligent and that the accident was due entirely to the conduct of the man who fell who fell backwards down the steps.
During our discovery and investigation into the case, we learned that Amtrak had a policy that prohibits passengers from boarding trains with “oversized luggage”. We took several depositions of Amtrak employees and proved that the luggage involved in this accident was larger than that allowed by Amtrak written policy.
Shortly after taking the depositions of the Amtrak employees Amtrak made a settlement offer of $150,000.00, which our client accepted.