Amtrak Sleeper Car Attendant Gets Settlement After Being Attacked on Train
The FELA attorneys at Lipkin & Higgins represented, M.R., a 47 year old woman who worked as an Amtrak Sleeper Car Attendant for over 20 years. One evening M.R. was in the sleeper car of the train when a drunken, deranged man came into the car and started to punch and kick her. After the attack went on for several minutes, other Amtrak crew members finally heard M.R.’s commotion and screams for help, and stopped the attack. M.R. suffered soft tissue neck and back injuries, as well as emotional injuries, including post-traumatic stress disorder. As a result, M.R. was unable to go back to work for Amtrak.
After filing suit, Lipkin & Higgins conducted a detailed investigation of the man that had attacked our client, and also obtained Amtrak’s records pertaining to the attack. Our investigation revealed that the man had been thrown off an Amtrak train by Amtrak personnel the day before the attack because other passengers had complained about him being drunk and saying “crazy things” (i.e. he accused other passengers of being “the devil” or a “witch”). Thus, our claim against Amtrak was based on allowing a crazed man to board its train when Amtrak knew, or should have known, of the danger this man posed. Amtrak eventually agreed to M. R. $275,000.00 after we presented the case to a judge at a pretrial conference, and the judge made a recommendation to Amtrak to settle in that amount.
