Frivolous Lawsuit of the Day: An appeals court in Illinois ruled that a woman injured by the body parts of a man killed after being struck by a train can sue the man for negligence.
18-year-old Hiroyuki Joho was run over by an Amtrak train while crossing the tracks near a Chicago Metra station in 2008.
Parts of his body were flung in the direction of the southbound platform, knocking down Gayane Zokhrabov. She sustained a broken leg and wrist, along with a shoulder injury.
Her lawsuit against Joho’s estate was initially dismissed by a Cook County judge, but the appellate court overturned that decision, saying it was “reasonable” to expect Joho to foresee the consequences of his actions.
Zokhrabov attorney, Leslie Rosen, admitted the case was “very peculiar and gory and creepy,” but insisted Joho was guilty of “straightforward negligence.”
“If you do something as stupid as this guy did,” Rosen said, “you have to be responsible for what comes from it.”
[tribune / photo: amtrak_russ.]
