BELLEVILLE – Evansville Western Railway challenges St. Clair County jurisdiction over a suit from a former employee’s widow about a fatal tick bite near Okawville.
Evansville Western moved for transfer on Aug. 20, claiming it does no business in St. Clair County and owns no property there.
General manager Jeff Witherspoon filed an affidavit identifying Okawville as the railway’s western terminus.
He stated that in Illinois, the railway operates only in White, Hamilton, Jefferson, and Washington counties.
Attorney John Kujawski of O’Fallon filed the suit in July, for widow Samantha White as estate administrator for Reed White.
Kujawski claims Evansville Western employed White for maintenance of way.
He claims that in 2017, a tick bit White as he performed his duties.
The bite “caused the decedent to become infected with Lyme disease which eventually caused the decedent’s death,” Kujawski wrote.
He claims the railway required White to work on right of way that it knew was infested with ticks.
He claims the railway failed to warn White about ticks, failed to monitor for them, and failed to provide protective clothing and adequate insect repellent.
Attorney Mark Kurz of the Boyle Brasher firm in Belleville moved for transfer in association with Miller Grumley and David Riley of Paducah, Ky.
“Being sued in the proper venue is an important statutory privilege which is given great weight,” Kurz wrote.
He cited an Illinois appellate court decision from 1990, finding a party shouldn’t defend itself in a county where it doesn’t maintain an office or do business.
“Venue is not proper where defendant has only an insignificant relationship with the county in which venue is sought,” he wrote.
Chief Judge Andrew Gleeson assigned the suit to Circuit Judge William Stiehl, and White moved for substitution on Aug. 31.