The suit also names the Village of East Palestine and various state and local government entities in Ohio and Pennsylvania. Additionally, corporate defendants, including GATX Corp. and OxyVinyls LP, have been embroiled in litigation with Norfolk Southern since the derailment.
Norfolk Southern has already faced multiple lawsuits following the incident, including a $600 million class-action settlement with affected residents and a $22 million agreement with East Palestine. However, Hickman and his fellow plaintiffs stress that their lawsuit does not conflict with or appeal any ongoing litigation.
Attorneys Push for Transparency
Kristina Baehr, counsel for the plaintiffs, emphasized in a statement Monday that her clients deserve full transparency regarding Norfolk Southern’s response to the derailment.
“It is wrong for Norfolk Southern to have led the testing and cleanup efforts. That’s like allowing a criminal to collect DNA and fingerprints at his own crime scene,” Baehr said. “There has been no real accountability in the last two years. Without accountability and real consequences, this will happen again. And so our clients take a stand not just for their own families, but for all of us.”
Legal Claims and Industry Response
The lawsuit asserts multiple claims, including negligence, nuisance, strict liability, trespass, loss of consortium, wrongful death, survivorship, civil conspiracy, and punitive damages.
