Norfolk Southern locomotive
GRANITE CITY — A Granite City family has filed suit against railroad operator Norfolk Southern, saying the company should pay for an accident at its Granite City rail yard in which one of the girls became pinned under a train car and lost her legs, leaving her sister and a friend who witnessed the incident also forever traumatized.
On April 2, attorneys for the family filed the lawsuit in Madison County Circuit Court.
The girls involved are identified only by their initials S.M. and X.G. They are represented in the action by their mother, identified as Misty Scott, and by attorney Morgan Scroggins, of the Scroggins Law Office, of Granite City.
According to the complaint, the incident occurred on April 5, 2024, at the so-called AO Smith New Yard, a rail yard allegedly operated by Norfolk Southern Railway in the 2901 block of Missouri Avenue in Granite City.
According to the complaint, the rail yard is located amid a neighborhood in Granite City. Because of its location, the rail yard essentially separates people, and especially children, living in those neighborhoods from parks and schools, among other public facilities.
According to the complaint, the rail yard did not "have any appreciable fences" or signs prohibiting trespassing to keep out pedestrians and often served as the most direct route for people, and especially teens and children, to walk from their neighborhoods to those other public destinations.
Further, the complaint asserts that trains routinely block pedestrian street crossings around the rail yard, leaving pedestrians "with no reasonable alternative but to cross through or over the Rail Yard."
The complaint asserts that on April 5, 2024, S.M., X.G., and a friend, identified only as C.R., attempted to cross the rail yard to go from the 100 block of Wilson Park Lane to the Granite City Soccer Complex, where they wished to go roller skating.
According to the complaint, at the time, S.M. was 13 years old; X.G., identified as her half-sister, was 12; and C.R., identified as a visiting friend, was 13.
According to the complaint, as the girls crossed the rail yard, they found their path blocked by a parked train. The girls allegedly waited "10 to 15 minutes," but then decided it was safe to climb over the train to continue on their way.
According to the complaint, X.G. and C.R. successfully climbed over the train to the other side. But as S.M. was in the process of crossing, the train suddenly lurched, as it began to move forward without warning, causing S.M. to fall onto the tracks, where her legs were struck by the train car's wheels and lodged in a switch on the tracks.
According to the complaint, emergency responders arrived at the scene. But before they could free S.M., another train began to approach and did not slow or stop.
According to the complaint, the approaching train then required emergency medical responders to amputate S.M.'s legs above the knee to free her and ensure she didn't suffer further injury.
According to the complaint, Misty Scott also responded to the scene while S.M. was stuck on the tracks and before her legs were amputated.
According to the complaint, the experience left Scott and the other girls traumatized.
The complaint asserts Norfolk Southern should pay, because it didn't do enough to keep the girls out of the rail yard; did not warn of the movement of the train before starting it forward; and did not do anything to prevent the train from moving or stop the approach of the second train, even though the rail yard was allegedly monitored by cameras and is patrolled by railroad police and other personnel.
The complaint asserts that Norfolk Southern employees "saw, or should have seen, the Children near the train for an extended period of time" and "took no actions to safeguard the children from crossing the stationary train" or "to have the children ... leave the Rail Yard."
The complaint accuses Norfolk Southern of negligence, infliction of emotional distress, and willful and wanton conduct, on behalf of S.M., X.G., and Misty Scott.
The plaintiffs are seeking unspecified compensatory damages of at least $50,000 per count, plus punitive damages.
Norfolk Southern has not yet responded to the allegations of the complaint in court. However, on April 24, Norfolk Southern removed the case to federal court in the Southern District of Illinois.
The company is represented by attorney Erick E. VanDorn and others with the firm of Thompson Coburn, of O'Fallon.
