(The Associated Press circulated the following on October 29.)
LEWISVILLE, Ark. — A lawsuit against Union Pacific claims company officials pressured families of those injured or killed by trains to quickly settle for amounts lower than what they may have received with a lawyer’s help.
The suit, now being argued before a judge in Lafayette County, Arkansas, says officials came to families in emergency rooms or while they still grieved. Arkansas residents James Freeman, Robert Udell and Victor Vickers sued the company, asking for class-action status to involve anyone injured or lost a family member in crashes at crossings, on a rail or near one from 1992 to February 15, 2005.
If granted class-action status, lawyers for the three say as many as 300 people who settled cases with Union Pacific without a legal assistance could be included as plaintiffs.
Udell’s daughter was killed in an incident involving a Union Pacific train. Vickers and Freeman suffered injuries in separate incidents.
Judge Jim Hudson will take the bench tomorrow to hear the two sides continue their debate. Once the hearing ends, Hudson has 90 days to rule on whether the suit will deal solely with the three Arkansas residents or include others.