$21.5 Million Settlement After Exposed Trolley Rail Left Man Paralyzed at San Diego Transit Station

On a morning like any other at the 12th and Imperial Transit Center in downtown San Diego, David Long stepped onto the platform and tripped on a section of trolley rail that had been left sticking two inches above the surrounding asphalt. The raised rail was the direct result of grinding work performed by Asphalt and Concrete Enterprises, a subcontractor hired by HMS Construction, which the San Diego Association of Governments (SANDAG) had retained to renovate several downtown low-floor trolley stations. Long fell hard, striking his head against the platform surface and fracturing vertebrae in his cervical spine. The injury left him quadriplegic.

The defendants included HMS Construction, its construction manager Simon Wong Engineering, the subcontractor Asphalt and Concrete Enterprises, the San Diego Metropolitan Transit System (MTS), and related MTS entities. Evidence developed in the case showed that the tripping hazard was known before Long fell. Contractors had raised the problem at construction meetings and asked MTS to close the station during the grinding work or to operate trains on a single track, keeping passengers away from the affected area. MTS declined both requests. MTS also prohibited any warning signs on the platform that would have directed pedestrians away from the exposed rail.

Ryan Harris of Harris Personal Injury Lawyers represented Long and his spouse, who brought a companion loss-of-consortium claim. The litigation focused on the chain of decisions that kept the station open and unmarked while a fixed, predictable obstacle sat at foot level in an active pedestrian pathway. Long's case captured both the physical catastrophe and the documented fact that multiple parties had advance notice of the exact condition that caused it.

The parties reached a settlement of $21.5 million, case number 37-2014-00083536-CU-PO-CTL. No appeal or remittitur has been reported in connection with the settlement.