Skokie man files second lawsuit against CTA following Yellow Line crash

CHICAGO - A second lawsuit has been filed against the Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) after a commuter train on the Yellow Line crashed, leaving dozens injured Thursday morning. 

Clifford Law Offices, filed the case on behalf of Matt Jones, 67, an architect from Skokie, who was taken by ambulance to a local hospital following the crash that injured 37 others, some critically.

Jones' lawyers say he was sitting in the first car, the first row and the first seat when the train crashed into rail equipment. He told his lawyers that he was "bounced around like a pinball." He suffered many injuries, including head injuries that required stitches.

This type of crash was completely preventable," Jones' lawyer Joseph Murphy said.  "This is a catastrophic example of how the CTA failed to make commuter transportation safe for its innocent passengers.  Were the back-up safety stop measures in operation?  Why was CTA equipment on the same tracks as a commuter train carrying passengers?  These are all questions that our clients and the commuting public deserve, and these lawsuits will get to the bottom of it."

The complaint was filed this morning. It alleges that the commuter train was operated negligently. 

Officials with the Chicago Fire Department said 38 people – 31 civilians and seven Chicago Transit Authority workers – were onboard the train at the time of the collision.

Fifteen passengers declined medical treatment, while 23 others were taken to area hospitals.

According to Chicago fire officials, the victims’ conditions range in severity, with at least three people in critical condition; however, everyone is expected to survive.

The train was traveling southbound from Skokie and approaching its final stop when it struck the back of a diesel-powered snow removal device, which was on the same track. The orange-colored plow had also been moving, only at a much slower pace.

Officials work where dozens were injured Nov. 16, 2023, when a CTA Yellow Line train crashed into rail equipment in the Howard Rail Yard in Chicago's Rogers Park neighborhood. (E. Jason Wambsgans/Chicago Tribune/Tribune News Service via Getty Images / Getty Images)

Clifford Law Offices filed a suit just hours after the crash yesterday on behalf of another passenger who was injured during the crash, Cleon Hawkins. 

Yellow Line service remains suspended as the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) investigates. 

NTSB will hold a news conference in Chicago Friday afternoon.