Jury's
award of $55.7 million to be appealed
Railroad to fight judgment in crash
(As
reported in the Chicago Sun-Times, Tuesday,
February 12, 2002)
By Jeff Coen
Tribune Staff Reporter
Tribune staff reporter Rick Hepp contributed to this report
The
Canadian National/Illinois Central Railroad will appeal
a $55.7 million judgment entered against it for last year's
DuPage County wreck in which a freight train struck a sport-utility
vehicle and injured several of its passengers, company officials
said Monday.
Dispatcher
error was blamed for sending the train through the disabled
Army Trail Road crossing and into a Ford Explorer carrying
Lilia Apulello, 40, of Carol Stream and her parents, Fidel
and Francisca Velarde. A Cook County Circuit Court jury
awarded the three portions of the judgment last week after
a two-week trial.
"We
have never denied our liability in this issue," said
Jack Burke, a spokesman for the rail line, "but motions
will be filed asking the court to review this finding."
The
three were injured in January 2001 when a dispatcher for
the railroad erroneously lifted a "stop and flag"
order for the crossing near Bloomingdale, authorities have
said. The signals there had been disabled because of chronic
malfunction, and trains were to approach it slowly and flag
down traffic if necessary.
The
train instead roared through at 50 m.p.h., striking the
SUV. A school bus carrying 30 high school students had stopped
at the crossing in accordance with state regulations as
the train reached the crossing.
The
three family members suffered brain damage and require 24-hour
care, their relatives said Monday at a Chicago news conference.
"She
was my wife, my best friend," said Raphael Apulello,
adding that Lilia Apulello has the mental capacity of a
9-year-old child since the crash. "Now, I don't have
her."
Chicago
attorney Tim Cavanagh, who represented the Velardes, said
the couple will use their share of the award--more than
$21 million--for "optimal medical care."
Authorities
said the crossing has not been the site of any other mishap
in the last year, but it was malfunctioning again Monday
morning.
"It's
particularly troubling that three days after this historic
verdict came down, that the railroad still has not gotten
that crossing fixed," said Cavanagh, who said the judgment
is believed to be the largest in Illinois involving a railroad.
DuPage
County sheriff's police said the signals were stuck in the
down position for about 90 minutes beginning at 5 a.m. Officers
were on the scene directing traffic around the downed gates.
Burke
said workers had been adjusting the signals Friday and may
have left them too sensitive, creating Monday's "false
positive."
