Whether you are an airline, train, or bus transportation company, passenger safety must be a priority. Passenger safety starts with ensuring the operator of the transportation vehicle is healthy enough to do so. NJ Transit violated their duty to ensure their drivers were in fact healthy enough to drive the Newark bus routes when they allowed one of their drivers to continue working after suffering heart failure. 
The Federal Department of Transportation has clear rules that disqualify drivers when their heart is not strong enough, but the NJ Transit ignored those rules. On his way to pick up his first customers of the day in Newark, the sick NJ Transit bus driver had a fatal heart attack while driving. His bus continued through two red lights and crashed into another NJ Transit bus, upon which our client was a passenger. The impact was so hard that our client flew out one of the windows and landed on the sidewalk. The NJ Transit argued the heart attack was a sudden, unforeseen medical emergency that they should not be responsible for. We obtained the sick NJ Transit driver’s full medical records and employee file which showed the sick employee requested an ambulance 6 prior times believing he was having a heart attack. The records also confirmed the bus driver’s doctor told him he needed a pacemaker, but he never followed through.
The case was settled during jury selection by Managing Partner Andrew Finkelstein and Trial Partner Antonio Grillo for $4,219,500.