Bowie County resident Bobby Cummings has filed a lawsuit against the National Railroad Passenger Corporation, doing business as Amtrak, claiming a train ride last year resulted in him injuring his knee.
The suit, filed Sept. 15 in the Texarkana Division of the Eastern Division of Texas, explains that Cummings tried to purchase a fare with a disability discount on Aug. 5, 2014, only to be issued a senior citizen ticket.
The next day, the suit says, Cummings boarded the train and “was told by the attendant that he would not be able to sit downstairs in the disability area, and that he must climb the stairs to the upper level.”
“The plaintiff tried to explain that he was disabled and could not climb the stairs offering documentation of his disability,” the suit says. “The plaintiff was told by the defendant’s employee to climb the stairs to the upper level or get off the train.”
Cummings further shows that he ascended the stairs and felt “a severe pain in his left knee, which began swelling.” According to the complainant, an Amtrak employee refused to help him walk to the restroom.
Cummings went to the hospital shortly after he arrived in Texarkana.
“The plaintiff has required a total knee replacement as a direct and proximate result of the defendant’s employee forcing him to climb the stairs,” the suit says.
Consequently, Cummings seek unspecified monetary damages and a jury trial.
He is represented by attorney Garnet E. Norwood of Texarkana, Ark.
Texarkana Division of the Eastern Division of Texas Case No. 5:15-CV-158