PITTSBURGH - First Transit Inc. is facing a negligence lawsuit from a woman who said one of its dispatched drivers extended her ride by almost two hours, causing her to have a panic attack.
Anita Moses sued the transit company in the Court of Common Pleas of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania on July 15.
On Sept. 16, 2017, an ACCESS van, owned by First Transit, took Moses to the Great Southern Shopping Center. Shortly after, she reached out to a First Transit dispatcher and requested to be picked up, she says. The van arrived at 12:09 p.m. with a man identified only as Chris driving, the suit says.
Moses said she was just 10 minutes from her Swallow Hill Road apartment, but Chris took a different route and picked up two men along the way. Before then, Moses was allegedly the only passenger. Once the two men entered, Moses said, Chris could have easily gone to her house. Instead, he drove to a Wal-Mart to drop off the men; at that point, it was 1:45 p.m., making the time she had been in the van almost two hours, she says.
“When she got home, as a result of being stuck in the van for an inordinate period of time, plaintiff suffered a panic attack and was transported by ambulance to St. Clair Hospital,” according to the lawsuit. She spent three days in the hospital, the suit says.
Moses is suing for negligence, alleging First Transit didn’t properly train its drivers and dispatchers and didn’t tell her that she should be prepared for an extended ride. She also said the company didn’t properly guarantee her well-being.
She said because of the defendant’s actions, she “sustained physical manifestation such as anxiety, palpitations, rapid heartbeat, increase in blood pressure” that resulted in her hospital stay, according to the lawsuit. She said she also had to pay for medical care and experienced inconvenience, pain and suffering, as well as not being able to enjoy life because of emotional distress and humiliation.