NO AMTRAK TRIAL
Dec 24, 1998
Railroad settles out of court with families of 42 passengers killed in
1993 Sunset Limited derailment.
By MICHAEL WILSON
Staff Reporter
After five years of depositions, court hearings and appeals, Amtrak agreed
Wednesday to forgo a trial and instead settle 42 lawsuits brought by families
of passengers who died in the 1993 Sunset Limited derailment in Mobile.
The global settlement - one lump payout, to be distributed by the court
- will be presented to U.S. District Judge Richard Vollmer of Mobile after
the new year, plaintiffs' lawyer Gregory Breedlove said Wednesday.
"We're pleased, certainly, with the result," Breedlove said.
On Sept. 22, 1993, a towboat blinded by fog struck a railroad bridge in
Bayou Canot northeast of Mobile. The Amtrak Sunset Limited, carrying 210
passengers, hit the bent tracks file minutes later, sending cars crashing
into the water. Forty-seven people died - 42 passengers and five crew members.
Wrongful-death lawsuits filed by plaintiffs all over the country were
consolidated into one mammoth, multidistrict case in U.S. District Court
in Mobile. Vollmer ruled that Alabama tort law - known for its large rewards
for plaintiffs - would take effect during the damages phase, but the 11th
U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals overturned the ruling. The case appeared
poised to make new law when it went to trial in February 1999, as Vollmer
decided how to handle damages in a wrongful-death case under federal maritime law.
But on Tuesday, at Vollmer's urging from the bench, lawyers for the
plaintiffs huddled all morning with Amtrak and the railroad track's
owner, CSX Transportation, in settlement negotiations. The towboat company,
Warrior & Gulf Navigation, had already settled. All the settlements
are confidential and will be presented to Vollmer under seal.
Lawyers for Amtrak and CSX have declined to discuss the settlement negotiations.
"We're certainly in the process now of notifying plaintiffs'
lawyers throughout the country," then receiving their input, Breedlove said.
Dozens of personal-injury cases were filed by the crash's survivors.
Most have settled; 17 were still open as of Monday. Trial in those cases,
and in a separate property dispute over damages to the train, will take
place in February.