Latest derailment lawsuits allege longer trains, fewer railroad employees
Four more people are suing Norfolk Southern Railroad, bringing to 12 the number of class action lawsuits filed in federal court over the February 3 derailment, chemical spill and fire.
Cleveland lawyers Lipson O’Shea filed two separate complaints Wednesday on behalf of East Palestine residents Scott Snyder, Nathen Velez, Amy Dettmer, and Melissa Boyer, all of whom claim they were exposed to dangerous chemicals and suffered economic loss because of the derailment and events that followed in the days after.
Both lawsuits criticize the railroads implementation of a so-called “precision scheduled railroading” plan which allegedly includes the use of longer trains.
“The PSR raises safety concerns because jobs are eliminated and trains are longer,” says attorney Michael O’Shea in the complaint.
In addition, the suit alleges that Norfolk Southern has been using outdated train brakes instead of newer Electronically Controlled Pneumatic brakes , which have the potential to reduce train stopping distances by up to sixty percent, according to the complaint.
The lawsuit also claims that Norfolk Southern has reduced the number of signalmen who maintain devices that can detect fires on rail cars as they move along the tracks.
Attorney O’Shea is asking the court to allow people who were living or working within 25 miles of the derailment to join in suing the railroad.
Norfolk Southern has not filed a response to any of the dozen complaints and the court has not ruled on whether it will declare the lawsuits as class actions.
The lawsuits were filed one day before the National Transportation Safety Board planned to release its preliminary findings into the crash investigation.