(The following article by Christi Mathis was posted on the Southern Illinoisian on June 16.)
TAMAROA, Ill. — A group of Tamaroa residents has won one of their battles against the Canadian National Railway/Illinois Central Railroad.
St. Clair County Judge Michael O’Malley recently handed down a ruling approving the plaintiffs’ request that their suit against the railroad be certified as a class-action suit. This means all of the plaintiffs’ cases will be tried together and it also allows additional plaintiffs to join the class, said Joe Leberman of the law firm Bryant & Kautz in Marion and Metropolis.
The suit results from a Feb. 9, 2003, train derailment in Tamaroa, in which some chemicals were spilled.
“We felt like this was an appropriate case for class action,” said Leberman, attorney for the plaintiffs. “We’re glad the judge agreed. We feel like every person affected by this will be helped by this being a class action. It makes it economically feasible to pursue all claims. We’re pleased.”
CN declined comment on the case or the latest ruling through spokesperson Karen Phillips. She cited the fact that litigation is pending.
Leberman said the next step will be determining the notification process to alert the Tamaroa area residents who aren’t already a party to the lawsuit that they are eligible to join. A court status hearing is set for 10 a.m. July 22 in St. Clair County and one of the items to likely be decided will be the notification method.
In addition, the plaintiffs have filed a pair of motions and the court will have to consider those at that hearing or in the near future. The motion for sanctions and motion to compel complain that the railroad had allegedly agreed to surrender certain requested documents and to have company employees available for depositions but instead failed to provide the documents and canceled the deposition of CN employee Barry Kracht at the last minute and refused to reschedule it or schedule other company employee interviews. The motions ask that the court compel the company to provide the documents and have its employees available for depositions. The plaintiffs also seek payment of $10,180 in costs they reportedly incurred due to the canceled depositions.
O’Malley’s certification of the class was based on the criteria that the class was so numerous that it would be impracticable to try separately for each plaintiff, the fact that the facts are similar in each case, that the interests of the plaintiffs is best served as a group and that the class is a “fair and efficient method” to adjudicate the controversy, court documents state.
“The court finds that requirements for class certification have been met,” O’Malley’s written ruling states. The ruling was actually made June 3 but the plaintiffs and railroad just received notification Tuesday.
The railroad had opposed the class certification saying in court documents that the plaintiffs “lack numerosity,” that most have already received reimbursements and signed releases, that no contamination has been found in air or soil, and that each of the plaintiffs are claiming individual injuries or damages so individual trials should be held to assess any liability. The plaintiffs countered that although each may have suffered different losses and to differing degrees all are linked to the same derailment.
The suit was filed in July 2003 on behalf of Marvin and Roberta Smith, Pam Runnells, Mark Chaney, Teddie Maxton, Max Dearmon, Thomas Trigg, Cheryl Trigg, Klaudine Kwiatakowski, Larry and Shirley Galbraith individually and as representatives of members of the class against Illinois Central Railroad, doing business as the Canadian National Railway/Illinois Central Railroad. It claims the compensation offered by the railroad for the derailment is insufficient for personal and property damages as the result of the train derailment and spill involving “hazardous, toxic and carcinogenic” materials. Tamaroa residents were displaced for up to five days after the derailment.
The railroad offered to cover “reasonable” expenses to residents who were evacuated from their homes along with an inconvenience stipend of $50 per adult per day and $25 per child, up to $100 per family. About 1,000 Tamaroans accepted the settlement offer but about 440, including some who received settlements, are now party to the suit.
The suit doesn’t specify the amount of compensation being sought and Leberman said he anticipates there will be different subclasses among the plaintiffs because some had property damage, others didn’t, some have medical or other concerns while others haven’t. Some claimants have more than one cause of action and virtually all suffered the costs and inconvenience of evacuation, Leberman said.
The railroad won its fight to have the case transferred to Perry County but all hearings prior to the actual case will remain in St. Clair County and O’Malley will remain the judge hearing the case.