Bronx Man Sues for $100 Million in Back and Neck Injury Lawsuit

The Bronx, NYThere is little doubt that a back and neck injury can be one of the most devastating injuries to have, given the sensitivities and idiosyncrasies of the spine and spinal cord. The neck and spine is also integral to movement and mobility, and unlike other limbs and appendages, the neck and back can hurt both when you’re moving or immobile. Complete recovery is never a guarantee.

Conversely, back injury lawsuits can run the gamut from spine surgery gone wrong, to a devastating injury. The latter is what happened to plaintiff Samuel Rivera, who was severely injured during a commuter train derailment in New York in December of last year.

According to Rivera’s back injury compensation claim, the rail mechanic was on board the Metro-North commuter train when it derailed December 1, 2013. Four people were killed and 59 sustained injuries.

Rivera was one of the injured, sustaining “severe and permanent injuries including spinal cord damage resulting in quadriplegia,” his neck injury compensation lawsuit says. Rivera, who worked on heating, ventilation and air-conditioning systems for the rail line, has been left paralyzed by the accident, according to his lawsuit.

Various reports have suggested that the commuter train was traveling at a rate of speed too high to safely negotiate a low-speed curve in the track, located in the Bronx. The engineer piloting the train is alleged to have not been fully awake at the time of the derailment; hence the reason the train may have been traveling too fast when it arrived at the curve, derailing.

Rivera, who is listed as co-plaintiff on the $100 million lawsuit with his wife Jessica, names the train’s operator, Metro-North; and the Metropolitan Transportation Authority as defendants. He does not name New York City, or the man driving the train at the time of the accident, William Rockefeller.

The aforementioned is a departure from the lawsuit filed by Eddie Russell, a New York City police officer, who named the City of New York and Rockefeller in the $10 million claim he filed with help from his neck injury lawyer. Russell claims to have suffered post-traumatic stress from the accident.

The Rivera lawsuit, filed in the Bronx with help from a back injury attorney, was the second lawsuit filed in association with the derailment, after Russell’s action. It has been reported that federal investigators found a safety culture that was deficient. Rivera’s lawsuit was filed under the auspices of New York common law and the Federal Employers Liability Act. The latter is a statute that protects rail workers.

The back and neck injury lawsuit was filed in the Supreme Court of the State of New York.