NEWARK, N.J. — An NJ Transit engineer whose career was ended by injuries suffered when he passed out in the cab of a locomotive with non-functioning air conditioning was awarded $11.6 million by a jury, NJ.com reports.
Scott Lupia, 47, filed a Federal Employer’s Liability Suit after a July 21, 2020, incident in which he was ordered to operate a Morristown Line train whose locomotive reached a cab temperature recorded at 114 degrees by a trainmaster, according to court documents. He could have been fired for refusing to do so, according to the suit.
He eventually passed out, but first was able to make an emergency call for help and activate emergency brakes to stop the train in Summit, N.J. When he passed out, he hit his head on metal in the cab and suffered permanent hearing loss, eyesight damage, and almost constant balance and dizziness issues, Lupia’s attorney, Scott Fitzgerald, told NJ.com.
Questions during the trial asked why Lupia didn’t open a cab window, but NJ Transit operating rules require that an engineer’s face and head cannot be exposed to a window opening, limiting opening of the window to about an inch. And the ALP46 electric locomotive involved in the case generates heat as it operates; expert testimony during the case said an open window sucks in hot air from the locomotive’s motors.
Fitzgerald said the award “comes as close as possible to value the many losses [Lupia] sustained as a result of the railroad’s outrageous negligence.” NJ Transit did not respond to NJ.com’s request for a comment.
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