Railroad worker sues 13 defendants over leg injuries

A Chambers County man says both of his legs were injured while he was working as a production technician for a railroad company.

According to a lawsuit filed April 30 in Jefferson County District Court, Jeffrey Huntley claims he was working on a railroad in Baytown on Feb. 29, 2008, when he suffered severe and permanent injuries.

Huntley names 13 companies as defendants in the complaint, including the Bayer Corp., Texas Brine Co., Lanxess Corp., Hexion Specialty Chemicals, Harold Vaughn, Trans-Global Solutions, formerly known as Econo-Rail Corp., and United Salt Corp.

The complaint claims one or more of the defendants meet the criteria of a "common carrier by railroad." Venue is proper in Jefferson County, it states, because at least one defendant, Trans-Global Solutions, has its principal office in there and the county is where a substantial part of the events took place.

Although the suit does not specify how Huntley received his injuries, it does say the defendants including Harold Vaughn were negligent by failing to timely apply the brakes of their trains, by failing to make a reasonable lookout, by failing to train the crew, by failing to adopt and enforce certain policies and by failing to take proper precautions.

The companies also negligently failed to restrict access to a dangerous area, failed to safely operate the train, failed to timely apply brakes and failed to conduct the train in a reasonably safe and prudent manner, Huntley claims.

Because of the companies' negligence and because of the incident, Huntley experienced physical pain, mental anguish and suffering, lost earnings, suffered from physical impairment and disfigurement and incurred medical costs, the complaint says.

Huntley is seeking an unspecified judgment, plus pre- and post-judgment interest, costs and other relief to which he may be entitled.

J. Keith Hyde and Mark Sparks of Provost Umphrey in Beaumont and Ernest Cannon of Stephenville will be representing him.

The case has been assigned to Judge Milton Shuffield, 136th District Court.

Jefferson County District Court case number: D182-328.