College of Arts and Sciences freshman Kate Joyce filed a lawsuit against the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority this week after she was allegedly dragged by a Green Line train on Saturday, March 20, because her foot was lodged in a train door.
She sued to cover hospital bills she accrued during four days in the hospital because of the incident, she told The Daily Free Press Wednesday.
MBTA officials were unavailable for comment Thursday, but one employee who requested anonymity said employees were “not allowed to comment” on the incident.
Joyce said the whole ordeal began when she was on the way to a babysitting job at the end of the D line Saturday and fell asleep in the second car of the train. She awoke to the sound of a conductor exiting the train at the train yard.
“I could see the conductor of the second car – she had just gotten off – so I pounded on the windows to get her attention,” Joyce said. “She acknowledged that I was on there but she walked away.”
Joyce said she proceeded to pull the emergency brake and pushed the doors open. While she was still exiting the train, the door slammed on her leg, trapping her on the vehicle.
The conductor of the first train began driving again and Joyce said she was dragged with the T at speeds that she said approached 35 miles per hour. She managed to clasp onto the train between the wheels and the carriage, which allowed her to pull her leg out of the door.
If someone shorter than her 5 foot 7 inches had been trapped, he or she would not have been able to reach the car and most likely would have sustained more severe injuries, Joyce said.
“If it had been somebody younger, or just shorter, or a pregnant woman … well, I’m just lucky,” she said.
Joyce said she injured her neck and femur in the incident, much smaller injuries than the doctors has originally thought.
“I was on bed rest for two days because the physicians thought I broke my neck,” said Joyce, who added that she was moved onto a station platform after the incident by the conductor who originally saw her on the train.
“You don’t move someone if they have been dragged by a train going 35 miles per hour,” she said.
To file the lawsuit, Joyce hired Ronald Gluck, a principal lawyer in the firm Breakstone, White-Lief, and Gluck, p.c. which specializes in personal injury and professional liability litigation.
Although Gluck was unavailable for comment Wednesday night, Joyce said the lawsuit she filed is for an undeclared amount and will be used to cover her hospital bills both now and in the future.
The main reason she filed the suit, she said, is to raise awareness about safety hazards on the T generally and the Green Line specifically. Joyce said she feels the trains, especially their safety devices, are not modern enough.
“The only reason I am going public is because the T needs to be held accountable,” Joyce said. “I want it fixed and I want it fixed now.”
She said she realizes the time and effort needed for a lawsuit.
“I know a lawsuit will take a long time and will be dragged out,” Joyce said. “Since I am not concerned with the money, pending advice from counsel, I will take a settlement, but if I settle the public won’t hear about it. The only way for [change to occur] is for the public to find out.”
Despite the accident, Joyce still rides the T daily, she said.
“I like it – I’ve always liked it,” remarked Joyce. “Suing the T does not increase T-fares in any way – I know. I checked because I have to pay for it too.”
Joyce and her lawyer are holding a press conference at Gluck’s office, Two Center Plaza, Suite 150, at 12:00 p.m. to discuss the lawsuit. Joyce said she wanted to hold the conference to raise awareness about her case.