Eastern Railroad Discussion > CSX reaches settlement with person on tracks

Not sure if this has been posted.  

Rail operator CSX Transportation has reached a financial settlement with the family of Sarah Jones, the camera assistant who was killed in 2014 on the Georgia set of “Midnight Rider” when a train collided with crew members who were shooting a scene on a rail track.The settlement was filed on Friday in Chatham County State Court in Savannah, Ga., according to Harris Lowry Manton LLP, which represents the Jones family. The terms of the settlement weren’t disclosed. https://www.latimes.com/business/hollywood/la-fi-ct-csx-sarah-jones-settlement-20190130-story.html

  I've followed this sad story. I find it very strange that someone can go unauthorized and tresspass and the family sues and wins. Unbelieveable.


  Steve H.
 

hartrick24 Wrote:
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>   I've followed this sad story. I find it very
> strange that someone can go unauthorized and
> tresspass and the family sues and wins.
> Unbelieveable.
>
>
>   Steve H.
>  
The family did not 'win' anything. They lost their daughter and settled with CSX to maybe cover the cost funeral and a bit more.

Which the film company should have covered.
 

flarails882 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> hartrick24 Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> >   I've followed this sad story. I find it very
> > strange that someone can go unauthorized and
> > tresspass and the family sues and wins.
> > Unbelieveable.
> >
> >
> >   Steve H.
> >  
> The family did not 'win' anything. They lost their
> daughter and settled with CSX to maybe cover the
> cost funeral and a bit more.


I know they lost a love one.
 

hartrick24 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
>   I've followed this sad story. I find it very
> strange that someone can go unauthorized and
> tresspass and the family sues and wins.
> Unbelieveable.
>
>
>   Steve H.
>

No such thing as private property/trespassing anymore it seems.   

flarails882 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> hartrick24 Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> >   I've followed this sad story. I find it very
> > strange that someone can go unauthorized and
> > tresspass and the family sues and wins.
> > Unbelieveable.
> >
> >
> >   Steve H.
> >  
> The family did not 'win' anything. They lost their
> daughter and settled with CSX to maybe cover the
> cost funeral and a bit more.

The point is tehy should have not gotten a penny. She was in the wrong, knew it was wrong, and did it anyway. CSX should have not had to pay a penny.

Unfortunately, she was doing what she was told to do.  It would not be the first time that someone followed a superior's instruction and suffered some consequence.  People tend to accept that if the boss tells them to do something it is the right thing to do.  

ST214 Wrote:

> The point is they should have not gotten a penny.
> She was in the wrong, knew it was wrong, and did
> it anyway. CSX should have not had to pay a penny.

I agree 100%, CSX should NOT have to pay anything and in turn they should be suing the photo company for trespassing onto their property.  I'm not being callus towards the family and I too realize that a person lost their life in this incident.  But the fact still remains that no one like this should be on the railroad tracks for any reason like shooting photos without the permission of CSX.
John in White Marsh, Maryland

John Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Unfortunately, she was doing what she was told to
> do.  It would not be the first time that someone
> followed a superior's instruction and suffered
> some consequence.  People tend to accept that if
> the boss tells them to do something it is the
> right thing to do.  

In which case there could be grounds for actions against the boss and his company, but not the railroad.  Only if it was proven that CSX was somehow negligent should they have been involved.  If that was alleged and knowing the tendency of juries to make the deep pockets pay regardless, CSX may have simply chosen to settle to be done with it.  That would be too bad and just encourages people to continue to file frivolous lawsuits, but understandable.

Gordon



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/31/19 09:40 by gbmott.

gbmott Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> John Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Unfortunately, she was doing what she was told
> to
> > do.  It would not be the first time that
> someone
> > followed a superior's instruction and suffered
> > some consequence.  People tend to accept that
> if
> > the boss tells them to do something it is the
> > right thing to do.  
>
> In which case there could be grounds for actions
> against the boss and his company, but not the
> railroad.  Only if it was proven that CSX was
> somehow negligent should they have been involved.
>  If that was alleged and knowing the tendency of
> juries to make the deep pockets pay regardless,
> CSX may have simply chosen to settle to be done
> with it.  That would be too bad and just
> encourage people to continue to file frivolous
> lawsuits, but uunderstandable.
>
> Gordon

Few companies want to take their chances in front of a 6 or 12 person jury, and with good cause.  People who want to "stick it to the man" or just got up on the wrong side of the bed. Even if they award a hundred million dollars, you'll pay again to get the ruling set aside or reduced.

This wicked train company killed this little girl, let's make sure they pay for their evil!

Here is an uninformed hypothesis as to how CSX could have been held partially responsible. 

In the onboard video and in the audio part of the video taken from the bridge there is no sound of brakes being applied. In fact, it appears there was little or no brake application at all. Regardless of whether that was a good idea from a train control standpoint, an attorney could argue, "If they had just applied the brakes, they could have had a few seconds more to exit the bridge."

I don't know if that argument was made. But, a jury could have found some partial liability on that basis. 

I've appeared before quite a few juries as an expert witness and have generally found them to issue reasonable verdicts based on the data presented to them. Remember, what is presented in a courtroom may or may not be all of the facts. 



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/31/19 08:49 by MSE.

Railroads hardly ever get a just verdict on these kinds of cases along with crossing accidents.  You gotta blame juries for that and the "free shot" liabiliy system we have.

tomstp Wrote:
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> Railroads hardly ever get a just verdict on these
> kinds of cases along with crossing accidents.
>  You gotta blame juries for that and the "free
> shot" liabiliy system we have.

The jury system has been shown to have many weaknesses.  In both civil and criminal cases.

SAVANNAH, Ga. — A railroad owner has settled a civil lawsuit by the family of a film worker killed in a 2014 train collision on its tracks in Georgia, ending the company's appeal of a $3.9 million jury verdict in the case.Court records show CSX Transportation finalized the confidential settlement with Sarah Jones' family on Jan. 24.Jones, 27, a camera assistant, was killed Feb. 20, 2014, when a freight train southwest of Savannah slammed into film workers shooting a movie about singer Gregg Allman. The tragedy occurred during the first day of shooting on "Midnight Rider," an ill-fated film about the late Southern rock icon and leading member of the Allman Brothers Band.Though CSX had denied filmmakers permission to shoot on its property, a Savannah jury in 2017 ordered CSX to pay $3.9 million in damages. The jury found the company shared in the blame for the deadly collision even though the film crew was trespassing.The jury heard testimony during the civil trial that two CSX trains rolled through while the movie crew stood on both sides of the tracks within an hour before the crash. The operators of those trains never called dispatchers to alert them even though CSX policy called for train operators to immediately report trespassers on its tracks and rights of way.Jones' parents said CSX failed to take precautions that could have averted the crash on a trestle spanning the Altamaha River near Jesup in southeast Georgia.https://www.gannett-cdn.com/-mm-/d5c464d835b2150493865a32394b0ef27905d180/c=229-0-5129-3684/local/-/media/2017/07/18/USATODAY/USATODAY/636359614597875139-AP-Film-Crew-Train-Crash.jpg?width=540&height=405&fit=crop"This trial disclosed a number of exceptionally poor judgments and ignored opportunities by CSX Transportation to prevent this tragedy," Jones' parents, Richard and Elizabeth Jones, said in a statement. (Photo: David Goldman, AP)"This trial disclosed a number of exceptionally poor judgments and ignored opportunities by CSX Transportation to prevent this tragedy," Jones' parents, Richard and Elizabeth Jones of Columbia, South Carolina, said in a written statement at the time of 2017 verdict.The company appealed the verdict.The woman's father, Richard Jones, said in a statement Wednesday: "We're relieved that the lawsuit has concluded."CSX spokeswoman Laura Phelps declined to comment.The film's director, Randall Miller, served a year in jail after pleading guilty to involuntary manslaughter and criminal trespassing charges.Jones' family had also sued Miller, his fellow production managers and several other defendants. All of them except for CSX settled or otherwise resolved their cases out of court. The crash ended production on "Midnight Rider."  Allman went to court to prevent Miller from reviving it before he died in May 2017 at age 69.

ST214 Wrote:
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> She was in the wrong, knew it was wrong, and did
> it anyway.

Actually, we don't know that. When two AMTK guys were killed at Chester PA in 2016, they did not know that they guy who was supposed to protect the work didn't. Folks (sometimes unfortunately) expect those running the job to know what they are doing and do it right.

TAW

The train crew on that CSX train should sue Sarah Jones' family for pain and suffering!!