Just over three years out from the toxic train derailment that rocked the community in East Palestine, people who lived and worked there during that time are starting to see lawsuit settlement payments from Norfolk Southern Railway, and not everyone is happy about what they're receiving.
The only payments that have gone out so far are related to personal injury, because up until last week, personal property and business related claim payments were on hold, as the U.S. Supreme Court considered whether to review a challenge to the $600 million settlement. Last week, the court refused to hear that case, so those delayed payments will soon be sent out to the 55,000 members of the class action lawsuit. We'll have to wait and see how people feel about that, once those checks start arriving.
When it comes to the personal injury part of this settlement, there are several concerns being raised by class members and their advocates, including smaller than expected checks, questions over whether people were misled into joining the class, and a desire for some to remove themselves from the class due to additional health issues that arose after they filed their claims.
On Tuesday's "Sound of Ideas," we'll talk about class action settlements, in this installment of our ongoing "Law of The Land" series. We'll get an update on the lawsuit in East Palestine with people who were impacted by the derailment and hear from an attorney who specializes in these kinds of lawsuits, to help us understand what's typical in a case like this.
Guests:
- Brenda Toot, who worked in East Palestine and is waiting on a second payment in the derailment personal injury settlement
- Beth Kosar, who worked in East Palestine and wants out of the derailment personal injury settlement
- Jami Wallace, who lived in East Palestine at the time of the derailment and opted out of the personal injury settlement
- Michael Maillis, Attorney and Partner, Kisling, Nestico & Redick (KNR) Law Firm
We reached out several times to attorneys with the law firm handling the East Palestine class action lawsuit, , and none of the attorneys we emailed responded to our request to be part of this conversation.
