(The following editorial appeared on the Star-Tribune website on December 14, 2009.)
MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. — “Railroad says lives weren’t worth $6 million each” read the front-page headline in the Dec. 11 Star Tribune. That accurately summed up the latest heartless legal maneuvering that’s inflicted maximum pain on four suburban families whose children died in a car-train collision at Anoka’s Ferry Street crossing in September 2003.
After a Minnesota jury placed 90 percent of the accident blame on Burlington Northern Santa Fe, after Washington County Judge Ellen Maas chastised the railroad for a “staggering” pattern of misconduct that included withholding evidence about the deadly crossing’s signal problems, the company now says $6 million per victim is too much. It is appealing the court’s $21.6 million award to the four families, as well as the $4 million in sanctions awarded by Maas in October.
“It’s unprecedented. There’s not a verdict that comes close to this for young adults and minors,” railroad attorney Tim Thornton said in last week’s story. So what does the railroad think these young lives were worth? On Monday, Burlington Northern Santa Fe spokeswoman Suann Lundsberg declined to specify an amount.
There’s only one right answer: “Priceless” is the word that should be used to describe the lives of 17-year-old Bridgette Shannon of Ramsey, 20-year-old Corey Chase of Coon Rapids, 20-year-old Harry Rhoades Jr. of Blaine, and 20-year-old Brian Frazier, whose father lives in Ham Lake. Minnesotans who have grieved with their families have also shared their anger at a railroad that’s stopped at nothing to cover up its responsibility for these deaths.
Burlington Northern’s high-powered legal talent should think twice about using the term “unprecedented.” That’s how legal experts in Minnesota and across the nation describe their win-at-any-cost legal strategy. The railroad began blaming the victims within hours after the freight train obliterated the two-door Chevy Cavalier driven by Frazier. Its offensive against them and their families never ended.