$29.6 Million Verdict Sends Message To Public Transportation System

27 Jul 2007

Chicago - March 2, 1999 - Although Rachel Barton didn't get $593 million, the jury's award of $29.6 million was its way of telling Metra, a Chicago Public Transportation System, a policy of double-checking train platforms could have saved the young violinist her leg, legal experts say.

Key in Barton's case was the disclosure of 14 prior incidents involving passengers getting stuck in Metra train doors in the five years before the Barton accident occurred, and that Metra didn't enforce a systemwide policy for conductors to take a second look at platforms before trains left a station.

Barton's leg became trapped in the closing train doors as the train was leaving the station.

The safety procedures of transportation systems are often the basis for litigation when an injury or death occurs because system employees failed to follow them. In some instances, the procedures are written in great detail but never followed. Significant verdicts are more likely in those situations where the breach of the safety rule is not an isolated or momentary lapse. A history of prior disregard of the rules or procedures can be important evidence in a civil action for compensatory or punitive damages.