All aboard

The fatal Amtrak accident that occurred in Philadelphia has resulted in multiple lawsuits being filed. Passengers on the deadly train derailment have begun to file federal lawsuits against Amtrak. Amtrak 188 derailed moments after an increase of speed of 70 mph to around 106 mph.  The cause and reason of the acceleration is not yet known. The incident resulted in eight fatalities and over 200 injuries.

Two well known Philadelphia Personal Injury attorneys, Robert J. Mongeluzzi of Saltz Mongeluzzi Barrett & Bendesk, and Tom Kline of Kline & Specter, are among the lawyers representing passengers filing civil lawsuits, as a result of the derailment. The lawsuits claim “egregious safety-related failures”. These individuals injuries range from broken ribs and a back injury, to lacerations and bruises. Another lawsuit being filed is by an Amtrak employee, whose injuries include head trauma and broken bones. The employee is requesting over $150,000 in compensation.

Amtrak may be paying a large sum of around $200 million to its passengers involved in the crash. The total amount they can pay to their victims is capped, however, and experts have stated that the liability would likely surpass this cap. As Philadeliphia attorney Robert Mongeluzzi explained to WCBS 880’s Marla Diamond, “There’s no cap on pain and suffering and on tragedy, and there shouldn’t be a cap on compensation for it”.” “So we will litigate that issue and fight that issue when we reach it.” Additional lawsuits are likely to be filed.