Central Illinois Railroad Company (CIRY) employee Thomas Stowers has filed suit against CIRY for injuries sustained in that incident. The suit was filed July 31 of this year in St. Clair County Circuit Court, but I only learned of it last night. The suit claims:
That on or about August 27, 2005, while working in Peoria, Illinois, plaintiff was operating a track mobile which failed injuries [sic] to plaintiff’s head, ribs, left elbow, left rotator cuff, and left shoulder, including the muscles, tendons, ligaments, cartilage, nerves, blood vessels, bones, and joints of these body parts.
Plaintiff states that his injuries and damages resulted in whole or in part from the negligent acts or omissions of the defendant….
This case is interesting because the police report from the night of the incident records that Stowers refused medical treatment. According to incident report PA 05-00026073, Officer Timothy Wong wrote (emphasis mine):
I [Wong] FOLLOWED [Allen] BROWN UNTIL WE CAME TO THE TRAIN CAR AND STOWERS WHO HAD JUMPED OFF OF THE TRAIN DURING IT’S TRAVEL FROM THE AREA OF PARK ST TO THE FOOT OF CAROLINE. STOWERS HAD ABRASIONS TO ALL AREA’S OF HIS BODY, HOWEVER RELATED THAT HE WAS FINE. STOWERS RELATED THAT HE WAS TRYING TO KEEP THE TRAIN UNDER CONTROL AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE, HOWEVER HE COULD NOT STOP THE TRAIN CAR AND JUMPED FROM IT, BEFORE IT STRUCK ANOTHER TRAIN CAR. A CODE 2 AMBULANCE WAS CALLED FOR HIM. STOWERS SIGNED A REFUSAL AND DECLINED MEDICAL ATTENTION. NO OTHER INJURIES WERE SUSTAINED BY ANY OTHER PARTY.
Sorry about the all caps — that’s the way it is in the report. In a supplement to this incident, Officer Winfred Fallert added this curious information (again, emphasis mine):
ON 08/30/2005 MYSELF [Fallert] AND SGT SWAIN WENT TO THE LOCATION OF THIS RAILROAD CRASH. WHILE THERE I SPOKE WITH [Steve] DRASSLER WHO IS EMPLOYED AS AN INSPECTOR WITH THE DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION, FEDERAL RAILROAD ADMINISTRATION. DRASSLER INFORMED ME THAT THIS WAS A VERY MINOR INCIDENT THAT DID NOT EVEN REQUIRE THE RAILROAD TO INFORM THEM. THE MANDATORY REPORTING CRITERIA FOR RAILROAD CRASHES ARE DAMAGE IN EXCESS OF $6700.00 OR INJURY TO ANY PERSON REQUIRING MEDICAL TREATMENT. THE ESTIMATED DAMAGE IN THIS CASE IS APPROXIMATELY $5000 AND ALTHOUGH THE ENGINEER DID SUFFER MINOR INJURIES HE DID NOT SEEK MEDICAL ATTENTION. DRASSLER ADDED THAT HE WAS ONLY AT THE SCENE BECAUSE HE RECEIVED AN “ANONYMOUS” PHONE CALL INFORMING HIM OF THIS INCIDENT.
Since there was no injury “requiring medical treatment” and damages were reportedly under $6,700, the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) did not conduct a formal investigation of the incident. It almost makes one wonder if Stowers was coerced into refusing medical treatment. I mean, the guy was 46 years old, jumped from a runaway train (reported by one eyewitness to be traveling at approx. 30 mph) in the middle of downtown, had abrasions all over his body, yet refused medical treatment? Something’s fishy there.
Stowers wants to be awarded no less than $50,000 in damages and demands a trial by jury.
Shouldn’t he be filing a lawsuit against himself? He was in charge of the track car, was he not? Wasn’t the wreck and his own injuries caused by HIS own negligence? I hope the jury gives him zero.
He’s claiming they didn’t provide him with a safe working environment or adequate equipment. I’m going to guess that it wasn’t his decision to use a trackmobile to try to haul lumber up the Kellar Branch. I’m not sure how much discretion he has to refuse to make a run when his boss tells him to do it. Furthermore, if the airbrakes were hooked up properly and still failed, that is negligence on the part of the company for not keeping their equipment adequately maintained.
That said, I’m actually not trying to defend the guy. He’s got a lot to prove, starting with the fact that he claimed in August 2005 that he didn’t have any serious injuries and refused medical treatment, and now in July 2006 is claiming he had serious injuries. And, like you said, he was the engineer, so he has to prove that the accident was not due to his own negligence. I hope the jury gives him what he deserves based on the evidence presented.
Just one more reason to get this train track out of commission and converted to a bike/hike path.
No, just one more reason to get CIRY off the tracks and let a competent operator like Pioneer run the line again.
Tim H, I hope you were being sarcastic. Thanks to the City’s foolishness, Carver Lumber’s existence and its 50 well-paid employees are threatened, Growth Cell Two is a joke and Peorians have the option of working at Wal-Mart, McDonald’s or if they have a doctorate, the Ag Lab.
All for a steeeenkiing hiking and biking trail.
So why is this guy filing suit in St. Clair County if the incident happened in Peoria??? Well, I can certainly tell you my theory. His lawyer is venue shopping and made a very good choice. St. Clair County is renowned for giving out high value awards for injury claims. Bush came down there during the 2004 election to give a speech on tort reform. No physicians want to practice in St. Clair and Madison counties because they’re considered such hostile environments. We had a lot of patients crossing the river into St. Louis to get care because of that.
Knight — Stowers lists his address as Alton, IL, which is in Madison County, which as you know neighbors St. Clair County. Madison is in the third judicial circuit; St. Clair is in the twentieth. So, on the one hand, it looks like he could have been venue shopping since he went with St. Clair instead of his home county. But, if Madison is just as bad as St. Clair, I’m not sure what the advantage is for Stowers. Oh, and Stowers’ attorney is from St. Louis, MO.
Brown knew the FRA reporting regulations and was Stowers’ boss.
People have to make a living.
Need I say more.
I wouldn’t be surprised if a wrongful termination claim is filed later.
Stowers should be asking for punitive damages.
>>> “John A Darling” 10/17/2006 5:00 PM >>>
Dear Mr. Oliver:
Your legal counsel, Mr. McFarland, has responsive statements from our General Manager of Railroad Operations, Jack Stolarczyk (our senior operating officer), regarding Carver’s allegations. Carver’s pejorative mischaracterizations notwithstanding, the CIRY did everything it was asked to do, when it was asked to do it. The City’s Allen Road Project required a temporary closing of the UP connecting track from Monday afternoon, October 9th, until Thursday afternoon, October 12th. Carver Lumber was advised of this temporary closing well in advance so it could schedule its deliveries accordingly. Also, if there had been any cars on the UP Interchange on Wednesday, October 11th, then service could, and would, have been provided. But no cars were delivered to, and none picked up from, the UP interchange track during this period. The Western Connection was closed for only 72 hours (approximately), was reopened promptly following completion of the highway project, and remains open for service. Regardless of carver’s deliberate misrouting of cars away from an open interchange solely for the purpose of creating another “incident,” the CIRY can, and will, not accept any Carver Lumber cars via the TZP. Moreover, the CIRY has no common carrier obligation to repair decades of deferred maintenance by the Peoria, Peoria Heights and Western RR. The so-called Western Connection, is open and available. The central 8+ mile segment of the PPH&W railroad is out of service by General Order and will remain so until someone (other than the CIRY) invests the money required to repair the track.
I do not know what further we can provide you and your counsel. If you have a specific request, we will take it under advisement and comply, if we can. Upon Mr. Stolarczyk’s return next week, the CIRY could provide sworn statements, if useful. The CIRY does not intend to react to Carver’s spurious and unfounded allegations. As the saying goes, “We don’t have a dog in this hunt;” no one has given us any economic reasons to assert any rights that we may have, or could acquire, in the Kellar Branch, and we are not going to dignify Carver’s sophomoric allegations with a inane “tis” vs. “taint” exchange.
John A. Darling,
President
Central Illinois Railroad Co.