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Judge approves $600 million settlement for residents near fiery Ohio train derailment
A federal judge on Wednesday approved a $600 million class-action settlement Wednesday that Norfolk Southern railroad offered to everyone who lived within 20 miles of last year’s disastrous derailment in East Palestine, Ohio.
Judge Benita Pearson gave the deal final approval after a hearing where the lawyers who negotiated it with the railroad argued that residents overwhelmingly supported it, attorneys for the residents and railroad spokesperson Heather Garcia told The Associated Press. Roughly 55,000 claims were filed. Only 370 households and 47 businesses opted out.
Those who did object to the deal were vocal in their concerns that the settlement won’t provide enough and that the deal was rushed through so quickly that they can’t possibly know what the potential health impact from the derailment will be. They say it’s hard to know all the risks, given the way test results have been reported by the EPA and the fact that the lawyers haven’t disclosed everything they learned in their investigation.
The objectors had hoped the judge would order the plaintiff’s lawyers to release the tests their own expert did after the derailment and address their concerns about a toxicologist who told them at one of the lawyers’ town meetings that they shouldn’t worry because he doesn’t think anyone will develop cancer. That angered residents who have been complaining about unexplained ailments since the derailment and talking with doctors who are conducting studies to try and determine what the health impacts will be. Experts say it’s too soon to know the health impacts.
“These attorneys were bullying people and telling them they were never going to get any money if they didn’t take this. People felt backed into a corner,” resident Jami Wallace said.
The judge’s approval clears the way for payments to start going out quickly. The lawyers had previously said they hoped to get the first checks in the mail before the end of the year.
As part of the settlement, any aid residents received from the railroad will be deducted from their final payments. Wallace and others who had to relocate for an extended period while the railroad paid for hotels or rental homes likely won’t get anything.
Anyone who lived within 2 miles of the derailment can get up to $70,000 per household for property damage plus up to $25,000 per person for health problems. The payments drop off the farther people lived from the derailment down to as little as a few hundred dollars at the outer edges.
“This outcome would not have been possible without the resilience and support of the East Palestine community and the broader class of impacted residents and business owners,” the plaintiffs’ attorneys said in a statement. “We look forward to beginning the distribution of funds in the coming weeks to help this community rebuild and move forward.”
When the train derailed late on Feb. 3, 2023, tank cars full of hazardous chemicals ruptured and spilled their contents that caught fire just outside the small town on the Ohio-Pennsylvania border. Then three days later officials decided to needlessly blow open five tank cars of vinyl chloride and burn the toxic plastic ingredient inside because they feared they would explode.
Since the derailment, the railroad has offered residents and the community $108 million in assistance and paid for the massive cleanup that has cost more than $1 billion.
“We made a promise to make things right and this is just one piece of that commitment,” the railroad said in a statement. “We remain committed to this community for the long haul and look forward to continuing our relationship with the Village as we work to help the area recover and thrive.”
Tamara Lynn Freeze said she and her husband ultimately decided to accept the deal despite their concerns about giving up the right to ever sue even if someone eventually develops cancer. She said the idea of having to go it alone against the railroad’s army of lawyers one day is daunting.
“It seems like everybody kind of just wanted it to be over with. like the attorneys and obviously Norfolk,” Freeze said.
She and her husband live in his childhood home, which is some 175 yards from the derailment site. They will now decide whether to give up that house that’s paid for or find somewhere they can feel comfortable planting a garden and living their lives normally again.
The International Brotherhood of Teamsters says workers at seven Amazon facilities will begin a strike Thursday morning in an effort by the union to pressure the e-commerce giant for a labor agreement during a key shopping period.
The Teamsters say the workers, who authorized walkouts in the past few days, are joining the picket line after Amazon ignored a Dec. 15 deadline the union set for contract negotiations. Amazon says it doesn’t expect any impact on its operations during what the union calls the largest strike against the company in U.S. history.
The Teamsters say they represent nearly 10,000 workers at 10 Amazon facilities, a small portion of the 1.5 million people Amazon employs in its warehouses and corporate offices.
Amazon is ranked No. 2 on the Fortune 500 list of the nation’s largest companies.
At a warehouse in the New York City borough of Staten Island, thousands of workers who voted for the Amazon Labor Union in 2022 and have since affiliated with the Teamsters. At the other facilities, employees – including many delivery drivers – have unionized with them by demonstrating majority support but without holding government-administered elections.
The strikes happening Thursday are taking place at an Amazon warehouse in San Francisco and six delivery stations in southern California, New York City, Atlanta and the Chicago suburb of Skokie, Illinois, according to the union’s announcement. Amazon workers at the other facilities are “prepared to join” them, the union said.
“Amazon is pushing its workers closer to the picket line by failing to show them the respect they have earned,” Teamsters General President Sean M. O’Brien said in a statement.
“If your package is delayed during the holidays, you can blame Amazon’s insatiable greed. We gave Amazon a clear deadline to come to the table and do right by our members. They ignored it,” he said.
The Seattle-based online retailer has been seeking to re-do the election that led to the union victory at the warehouse on Staten Island, which the Teamsters now represent. In the process, the company has filed a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the National Labor Relations Board.
Meanwhile, Amazon says the delivery drivers, which the Teamsters have organized for more than a year, aren’t its employees. Under its business model, the drivers work for third-party businesses, called Delivery Service Partners, who drop off millions of packages to customers everyday.
“For more than a year now, the Teamsters have continued to intentionally mislead the public – claiming that they represent ‘thousands of Amazon employees and drivers’. They don’t, and this is another attempt to push a false narrative,” Amazon spokesperson Kelly Nantel said in a statement. “The truth is that the Teamsters have actively threatened, intimidated, and attempted to coerce Amazon employees and third-party drivers to join them, which is illegal and is the subject of multiple pending unfair labor practice charges against the union.“
The Teamsters have argued Amazon essentially controls everything the drivers do and should be classified as an employer.
Some U.S. labor regulators have sided with the union in filings made before the NLRB. In September, Amazon boosted pay for the drivers amid the growing pressure.
NEW YORK — The Teamsters union is launching a strike against Amazon at numerous locations across the country, including in Maspeth, Queens.
The Teamsters are calling it the largest strike against Amazon in United States history, and it’s set to begin at 6 a.m. Thursday. In addition to New York City, workers will be joining picket lines in Atlanta, Southern California, San Francisco and Illinois.
In a video announcement released Wednesday night, workers voiced their frustrations.
“Us being strike ready means we’re fed up, and Amazon is clearly ignoring us and we want to be heard,” one worker says in the video.
“It’s really exciting. We’re taking steps for ourselves to win better conditions, better benefits, better wages,” another worker in the video says.
The union says it represents about 10,000 Amazon employees and that Amazon ignored a deadline to come to the table and negotiate. The $2 trillion company doesn’t pay employees enough to make ends meet, the union asserts.
At the height of the holiday season, many are wondering what this means for packages currently in transit.
Teamsters President Sean O’Brien said, “If your package is delayed during the holidays, you can blame Amazon’s insatiable greed.”
Amazon says Teamsters are misleading the public
An Amazon spokesperson says the Teamsters are misleading the public and do not represent any Amazon employees, despite any claims.
“The truth is that the Teamsters have actively threatened, intimidated, and attempted to coerce Amazon employees and third-party drivers to join them, which is illegal and is the subject of multiple pending unfair labor practice charges against the union,” the spokesperson said in a statement.
An Amazon representative says the company doesn’t expect operations to be impacted.
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