Eastern Railroad Discussion > NS Sues Crew, Crew Sues NS for March 2018 KY Collision

This is a followup to a post I made in April 2018 when a NS crashed head-on into another NS manifest, big mess!  The crew is now suing NS for defective equipment because they didn't have PTC installed. NS sued for several violations so looks like a long drawn out case. 
Here is link to original post, the newspaper link may not work but the WKYT tv link still seems to work.

https://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?2,4525259,4525259#msg-4525259

Link to new story, (loaded with lots of ads!)

https://www.kentucky.com/news/local/counties/scott-county/article224285450.html
 

It will be interesting to see how well documented the complaint is.  The runaway coal train on Cajon decades ago ( some inoperable brakes, prior problems with the power, etc) should have been the first modern brick in this wall

I've long felt that the railroad unions could probably build a good case against their employers on the argument that a safe work environment is required, but denied. Like other ground breaking efforts, it would be long and expensive. 

Starting with a pushback for each and every call on your rest if you're fatigued.  A pattern of disregard for employee safety.

This has to do with FELA so if the crew were injured it's necessary for them to establish how much if any is their fault and how much if any is the company's fault...if tthe company is as little as 1% at fault the crew can make a recovery....the company's suit against them is meant to mitigate what they feel is to be a huge loss. But it will not hold water mark my words. NS will come out with the short end of the stick, and they should.

This entire situation brings up many questions...
Have BNSF, UP or CSX ever sued a train crew after a derailment?  (I previously had not heard of any)
Did it happen in the fatal Graniteville, SC train derailment on NS?  (If so, I didn't see anything about it in media reports)
If not, then why would NS want to do it in this case?  (Did a well rested crew intentionally cause the derailment?)

Could there be any action against NS by crew unions for doing it?  (Crews walking out in support of their fellow crew members might wake up a railroad to what lawsuits against employees could cause)
And if NS would file a lawsuit against a crew and other railroads don't do that, then why would anybody, especially the best candidates, want to work for NS?



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/12/19 09:11 by CSX602.

Haven't done it on CSX that I am aware, and as far as I know its a Nazi Southern thing. 

P)erhaps you are not aware it is widely reported that this crew sat in the foul of the other track after overrunning the stop signal and did not say a word to the dispatcher or to any other trains that might have been approaching.  The collision occurred some 90 seconds after they got by the signal.   This collision could have been mitigated, if not totally prevented, by just getting on the radio.     

=============================================  


engineerinvirginia Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Haven't done it on CSX that I am aware, and as far
> as I know its a Nazi Southern thing. 

I have also heard it was reported on a railroaders' forum that the engineer on the train that passed the stop signal had a previous stop signal violation and had recently returned to work after being off for that violation.  Does anyone know if this is true?

Yes, he did have a prior stop signal violation.
=======================================

DirtyShirt Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I have also heard it was reported on a
> railroaders' forum that the engineer on the train
> that passed the stop signal had a previous stop
> signal violation and had recently returned to work
> after being off for that violation.  Does anyone
> know if this is true?

Lackawanna484 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> It will be interesting to see how well documented
> the complaint is.  The runaway coal train on
> Cajon decades ago ( some inoperable brakes, prior
> problems with the power, etc) should have been the
> first modern brick in this wall
>
> I've long felt that the railroad unions could
> probably build a good case against their employers
> on the argument that a safe work environment is
> required, but denied. Like other ground breaking
> efforts, it would be long and expensive. 
>
> Starting with a pushback for each and every call
> on your rest if you're fatigued.  A pattern of
> disregard for employee safety.

Most people don’t understand or fail to understand that PTC was caused by the Unions always arguing that every major derailment or accident was caused by crew fatigue....oh even better yet most people even industry people fail to recognize that the HOS reforms that were mandated by the government prior PTC legislation was caused by the Unions failure themselves to come to agreement on new HOS policy.... facts are important

Posted from iPhone

engineerinvirginia Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> This has to do with FELA so if the crew were
> injured it's necessary for them to establish how
> much if any is their fault and how much if any is
> the company's fault...if tthe company is as little
> as 1% at fault the crew can make a recovery....the
> company's suit against them is meant to mitigate
> what they feel is to be a huge loss. But it will
> not hold water mark my words. NS will come out
> with the short end of the stick, and they should.


Yeah, NS should pay out the wazoo because they didn’t do their job......
Guess that means I don’t need to stop at stop signs in traffic.

Posted from iPhone