17 October 2005
Wrongful Death Lawsuit Settled in 2002 Minot Derailment Lawsuit
Fargo North Dakota - A settlement has been reached in a lawsuit filed by the widow of
a man who died while trying to escape an anhydrous ammonia cloud after a 2002 derailment near Minot.
The wrongful death lawsuit was filed against the Canadian Pacific Railway by John Grabinger's widow, MeLea. Details of the settlement
were not released.
It was announced Monday, a day before jurors were to be chosen for the trial in the Grabinger case and another case, the first of
hundreds of lawsuits stemming from the derailment.
"I'm happy for the Grabingers. A settlement is usually preferable as long as it's a reasonable one," said Mike Miller, a
Fargo attorney handling 20 separate states cases against the railroad as well as a class action lawsuit involving nearly 1,000 people.
"I don't know what effect it's going to have on the other cases," Miller said.
"It's the court's understanding that a confidential settlement has been reached in the Grabinger case. Is that correct?"
Hennepin County District Judge Tony Leung asked attorneys in Minneapolis as they prepared to choose a jury Monday.
Attorneys for both sides answered yes.
The Grabinger case was the second case to be settled out of court as attorneys prepared for trial this week. Claims filed by Henry
and Linda Juntunen and their son, Joey, of Minot, against Canadian Pacific were settled last Tuesday. Details of that settlement also
were not released.
A third lawsuit, filed by Warren Howell and grouped with the Grabinger and Juntunen cases, was moving forward on Monday, Miller said.
Thirty-one of 112 rail cars derailed west of Minot shortly after 1:30 a.m., on 18 Jan 2002, and five tank
cars carrying anhydrous ammonia ruptured, releasing almost 221,000 gallons of the toxic gas.
Individual lawsuits against the railroad have been filed in state court in Minnesota, where the Calgary, Alberta-based
railroad has its U.S. headquarters. Others are represented in a separate federal court action in North Dakota.
Miller said the railroad has admitted liability in the first three cases. He said lawyers for the defendants plan to argue that the
admission should carry over to the other cases.
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