Ticket-collector sues Amtrak over trip-and-fall incident on train

An Amtrak ticket-collector who claims she suffered physical injuries after tripping over overflow luggage while she was navigating the aisles of a train last winter is suing the transit agency in federal court.

Bala Cynwyd, Pa. attorney Mitchell A. Kaye, of the firm Coffey Kaye Myers & Olley, filed the injury claim at federal court in Philadelphia Nov. 18 on behalf of Judith A. Lecuyer of Rensselaer, N.Y.

The defendant named in the suit is the National Railroad Passenger Corporation, better known as Amtrak.

According to the complaint, Lecuyer was on a passenger train traveling between Syracuse, N.Y. and Utica or Rome, N.Y. on Dec. 29, 2010, when, while walking through a passenger car for the purpose of collecting train tickets, she fell and injured herself.

The suit blames Amtrak for the incident, alleging that the company’s failure to enforce its luggage policy, namely by not providing adequate and secure space to accommodate luggage and not enforcing its carry-on luggage policy, led to the employee suffering injuries.

As a result of her fall, the suit claims, Lecuyer suffered injuries to her left arm, shoulder, right leg and knee. These included a contusion of the left shoulder, a fracture of the left shoulder, neck sprain and contusion of the right knee.

Lecuyer was forced to undergo various surgical procedures, such as left shoulder arthroscopy, open arthroscopic biceps tenotomy, arthroscopic subacromial decompression and arthroscopic distal clavicle, the lawsuit states.

Lecuyer experiences chronic left shoulder pain to this day, the suit claims, and she has also developed advanced AC joint osteoarthritis.

As a result of her injuries, Lecuyer has suffered a loss of earnings and earning capacity, she has undergone great physical pain and mental anguish, and she has been obliged to spend various sums of money on medical attention, the suit claims.

The lawsuit claims that the accident was caused by the negligence of Amtrak and that the defendant’s actions were in violation of the Federal Employers’ Liability Act.

Lecuyer demands judgment in a sum in excess of $150,000.

A jury trial has been demanded.

The federal case number is 2:11-cv-07215-AB.