Union Pacific Ordered to Comply in Wounded Veterans’ Lawsuit

Washington, D.C. (Law Firm Newswire) October 16, 2014 – A judge has ordered Union Pacific Railroad to comply with requests for additional discovery in a lawsuit stemming from a 2012 train crash in Midland, Texas.

The crash occurred when a Union Pacific train hit a float in a parade honoring wounded military veterans. The crash killed four people and injured 16, including several veterans.

According to the Midland Reporter-Telegram, Union Pacific has blamed a series of failures on the part of the City of Midland and the parade organizers for the accident.

“The aggressive discovery of facts is critical in these types of cases,” commented David Lietz, a transportation accident attorney not involved with the case. “Victims deserve full compensation based on the truth of what really happened.”

The lawsuit filed by the victims alleges that a malfunction of the train crossing warning system contributed to the crash. The Wall Street Journal reports that Union Pacific has acknowledged that such a problem did exist at the time of the crash. Nonetheless, the company asserts that the driver of the float still received more warning time than is required by federal law.

The driver of the float told investigators that he was unable to distinguish between the train warning horns and other horns being sounded during the parade, according to the Wall Street Journal.

The lawsuit against Union Pacific is set to go to trial in January. The original lawsuit was filed in November of 2012. It has been delayed several times due to venue challenges, judge recusals and disputes over discovery.

For research purposes, the case is Richard Sanchez et al. v. Union Pacific Railroad, Inc. and Smith Industries, in the 441st District Court of Midland County Texas, case no. CV49117.