An Amtrak employee and his wife are suing the transportation company, alleging injuries he sustained in the May train derailment that killed eight people and injured more than 200.
Matthew and Lisa Morgan of Sussex County, Del., filed a lawsuit Aug. 13 in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania against National Railroad Passenger Corporation, also known as Amtrak, alleging negligence.
According to the complaint, on May 12, Matthew Morgan was aboard the first car of Amtrak Train 188 when it derailed in Philadelphia a little after 9 p.m., causing him to suffer many serious injuries including traumatic head injuries and rib fractures.
The suit states the defendant is faulted with operating the train at a dangerous and excessive speed, failing to implement systems to slow or stop the train when it operates at an unsafe speed whether due to the engineer's actions or other circumstances, failing to properly instruct train crew on safe train operations, and failing to use additional crew members to ensure the train was being operated in a safe manner.
The suit states Matthew Morgan has and will continue to endure physical pain, mental anguish, medical treatment and expenses, loss of earnings and earning capacity, and an inability to attend to his usual daily activities. His wife Lisa says the train accident led her to lose society, companionship and consortium of her husband.
The Morgans seek compensatory and punitive damages, plus attorney fees and costs. They are represented by attorneys Joseph E. O'Neil and Alexander D. MacMullan of Lavin, O'Neil, Cedrone & DiSipio in Philadelphia.
U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania case number 2:15-cv-04566-LDD.