BENTON – U.S. District Judge Staci Yandle transferred a conductor’s complaint against Illinois Central Railroad to U.S. district court in Memphis on May 27.
“The Southern District of Illinois has no connection to this case and the interests of justice warrant a transfer,” Yandle wrote.
Attorney John Kujawski of O’Fallon filed the complaint for Aaron Sondgeroth of Ripley, Tennessee, in October.
He alleges a hand brake on a flat car failed to function as he tried to release it in Rialto, Tennessee. As a result, Sondgeroth claims he injured his spine, nerves, muscles, tendons, and ligaments.
The suit claims the railroad failed to inspect, maintain, and repair the brake, and allowed unsafe practice to become common practice.
Sondgeroth sued under the Federal Employers’ Liability Act, which allows railroad workers to sue in a railroad’s residence, or where the accident occurred, or “where the defendant shall be doing business.”
Kujawski wrote that Illinois Central engaged in interstate commerce including Illinois and Tennessee.
He wrote that Sondgeroth’s duties furthered interstate commerce or affected it.
Illinois Central counsel Kurt Reitz of Thompson Coburn in Belleville moved for transfer on Jan. 21.
He identified four railroad witnesses from Tennessee, two from Mississippi, one from Arkansas, one from Wisconsin, and one from Cairo.
He wrote that testifying in Southern Illinois would inconvenience every witness in and around the Western District of Tennessee, and would disrupt Illinois Central operations.
In February, Kujawski responded that there were no eyewitness and Illinois Central could locate the flat car at any time.
“Plaintiff had substantial medical treatment and surgical procedures in St. Louis, Missouri, and was seen by numerous physicians, therapists, physician assistants, consulting professionals, and medical facilities in St. Louis,” he wrote.
“The trial will focus on damages and thus, plaintiff’s treating physicians in St. Louis will be the focus of this case.”
He listed surgeries that Dr. Brett Taylor of Town and Country, Missouri, performed.
He identified an assistant at surgery, a doctor who performed spinal injections, and a physical therapy clinic in Ballwin, Missouri.
He wrote that nurses, technicians, and staff in Town and Country and at SSM St. Clare in Fenton, Missouri, would testify.
He wrote that travel to Southern Illinois wouldn’t inconvenience Sondgeroth.
He wrote that Illinois Central employs citizens of the district and has hundreds of miles of track in Southern Illinois.
He cited eight cases where Southern Illinois district judges denied transfer, five against Illinois Central and three against CSX Transportation.
Reitz replied, “Plaintiff argues it can never be inconvenient for Illinois Central to litigate in the Southern District of Illinois because it has tracks here.”
He listed 11 cases in Southern Illinois court where surgeon Taylor was a witness in cases Kujawski filed.
Yandle transferred one of the cases to the Central Illinois district in 2017.
Reitz also listed single cases where Taylor was a witness for Kujawski in St. Clair County, Madison County, Cook County, and St. Louis County.
In March, Yandle set trial next May and ordered a scheduling conference May 8.
She cancelled the conference on April 30.
In her transfer order she wrote, “Although plaintiff states that he chose to file his suit in the Southern District of Illinois because it is centrally and conveniently located to witnesses and events in this case, the facts suggest otherwise.
“While plaintiff asserts that he has made numerous trips to St. Louis to treat with a physician, an after the fact selection of medical providers that do not reside in either district is not controlling.”