ILLINOIS APPELLATE COURT DECISION: SUMMARY JUDGMENT IN FAVOR OF THE CTA REVERSED
As a Chicago personal injury attorney who handles litigation against the CTA, I am pleased with the Illinois Appellate Court's opinion in the matter of Torf v. Chicago Transit Authority, No. 1-09-1710. The court reversed the circuit court's entry of summary judgment in favor of the CTA. The circuit court found the CTA immune from liability under the Metropolitan Transit Authority Act, 70 ILCS 3605/27 (2008).
Plaintiff, Torf, alleged that the CTA owed a duty to exercise the highest degree of care in operating a train and that defendant breached that duty in four ways: (1) the CTA failed to maintain the train so as to avoid discontinuation of service between the platforms; (2) failed to provide a safe means of egress for passengers to evacuate; (3) failed to provide clear instructions dictating safe evacuation to avoid chaos and (4) failed to provide assistance to passengers evacuating the train to avoid injury.
One enormous benefit of litigation to society is the opportunity for change that it provides to corporations and municipalities. I have represented numerous injured plaintiffs in litigation against the CTA. In the CTA Blue Line derailment, there were complaints of the poor manner in which the CTA handled the evacuation of the train. According to the court's opinion in Torf, approximately an hour-and-a-half passed between the time that the train stopped on the tracks and the time that a voice came over the speaker to tell the individuals in Torf's train car to evacuate. The transportation manager for the CTA who gave a discovery deposition testified regarding policies in place for the evacuation of trains, but did not know if the CTA had employees at each car helping people to evacuate. Could more have been done to create order during the evacuation to avoid Torf getting pushed off the train car causing her to fall?
Public transportation is a wonderful asset to our community. The CTA has a history of derailments and emergencies. Safe egress from a stopped or derailed train is a CTA policy that should be followed by CTA management and employees.
