Old lawsuit may end after 43 years

Associated Press

CLEVELAND

A lawsuit in Ohio over benefits for railroad workers may be coming to an end after 43 years with the awarding of $14.7 million to a group of Cleveland workers that now only has two surviving members.

U.S. District Judge Harvey Bartle in Philadelphia ruled last month in the case involving the former Penn Central Railroad. Bartle said American Premier Underwriters Inc., which now holds many of the former railroad’s assets, must pay the workers, The Plain Dealer reported Thursday.

Although only two of the 32 original people who sued are alive, the others’ estates are expected to receive awards, according to court records.

If Penn Central paid the workers in 1968, it would have cost the company $564,820, according to court records. Compounding interest has pushed the amount to $14.7 million, the newspaper reported.

Attorneys representing the former railroad company still could appeal the decision. Attorney Michael Cioffi did not immediately return a call Thursday to his Cincinnati office.

One of the surviving workers, Phillip Franz, of Middleburg Heights, said it’s hard to believe the railroad has fought them so long.

“Anyone you tell about it laughs at you,” Franz said.

The other worker is ill.

“Finally, they will get what they deserved,” said lawyer Carla Tricarichi, who has represented the workers since the 1980s. “They really believed in this and believed that they were wronged.”

Tricarichi worked the case with her father, who died in 2000, and took out a line of credit on her home to pay for some of the mounting expenses that she and other lawyers believe it is one of the oldest in the country.