EAST ST. LOUIS — A BNSF Railway worker alleges a roadway full of deep potholes in the rail yard caused him to suffer a spinal injury.
Stanley M. Mann filed a complaint April 13 in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Illinois against BNSF Railway Company, alleging negligence.
According to his complaint, Mann was working for BNSF in Centralia on April 17, 2019. He alleges that while riding as a passenger in the company's van, the driver, also a BNSF employee, was operating the vehicle unsafely through the railroad yard and striking large, deep potholes. Mann claims he was bounced around in the vehicle with great force and impact, causing him to suffer a disabling spinal injury in his lower back.
Mann alleges BNSF was negligent for failing to have a reasonably safe place to work, failing to furnish safe equipment and for their failure to respond to employees' complaints about the roadway condition in the rail yard. Mann also alleges BNSF failed to prevent the van from driving through the potholes, did not have a reasonably safe driver to avoid the dangers and failed to comply with its own internal standards.
Mann claims that as a result of his injuries, he has lost over $850,000 in wages and suffered other damages.
Mann seeks monetary relief, trial by jury and all other just relief. He is represented by Daniel Francis of The Dan Francis Law Firm PLLC in Lexington, N.C.
U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Illinois case number 3:22-CV-728