A New York woman is suing Amtrak, claiming she suffered severe burns when a sudden jolt by the train caused hot tea to spill onto her legs during a summer trip last year.
Ophelia Rawles, 62, of Harlem, claims she sustained her injuries during a sudden train jolt just before departing Penn Station on July 19, 2023, forcing her to endure the eight-hour journey in agony.
According to court papers, obtained by Atlanta Black Star, Rawles was on her way to Rocky Mount, North Carolina, to visit family when the train jerked forward, tipping her cup and splashing hot liquid everywhere, leaving her wincing in pain.
“It took my breath away,” said the retired NYPD clerical worker, according to the New York Post. To make matters worse, Rawles was wearing shorts at the time, leaving her legs exposed with no barrier to protect her from the scalding tea. “The pain was excruciating. I could have had a heart attack,” she added.
Moments earlier, she picked up the tea from the commissary, where staff poured hot water into a cup and topped it with a plastic lid. Rawles was handed the tea bag separately, which she placed on a serving tray alongside the cup.
After returning to her seat, Rawles said she carefully placed the tea bag into the cup of hot water, and secured the lid again. From there, everything was all right until the train jerked without warning.
Rawles explained that the sudden jolt caused the dropdown tray in the forward seat “to automatically flop down, knock into my tray, and send the cup of tea spilling everywhere.”
Instantly, a nasty burn appeared on her upper left thigh.
The legal action, filed in Manhattan federal court, seeks unspecified damages while blaming the incident on “the negligence and carelessness” of Amtrak.
One of the key allegations in the lawsuit is that Amtrak was negligent for serving the hot drink at an excessively hot temperature, according to the victim’s attorney, Max Leifer.
Rawles has “permanent scarring, requiring laser and other possible medical treatment. In addition to the physical scarring, the plaintiff claims emotional and psychological disability,” the suit says.
While Amtrak has not made any public comments regarding the lawsuit, it has formally responded through legal documents filed in late September, indicating the company’s intention to fight Rawles in court.
Amtrak’s filing argues that Rawles’ injuries were “caused solely by her own negligence” and were “due to her assumption of the risk based upon her own culpable conduct.”
In its response, Amtrak argued that any potential damages should be limited and noted the statute of limitations to bring the case, saying Rawles may have missed the deadline to file the suit.
The company, known otherwise as the National Railroad Passenger Corp., also urged the judge to move the lawsuit from state court to federal court, claiming that because Amtrak is a public entity and more than half of its stock is owned by the U.S. government, it should be handled in federal court.
There is also substantial legal precedent in such cases, as various lawsuits have arisen over the years regarding coffee or hot liquids served at dangerously hot temperatures.
In a notable case last year, a woman from Georgia was awarded $3 million after suing Dunkin’ Donuts, alleging she was severely burned by a piping-hot cup of coffee handed to her at the drive-thru.
According to reports at the time, “the lid came off of the cup spilling the coffee onto her lap and burning her skin. She suffered second and third-degree burns to her thighs, groin and abdomen and required extensive skin grafts.”
One of the most notable lawsuits involving hot liquids occurred in 1992 when 79-year-old Stella Liebeck, of New Mexico, sued McDonald’s after spilling a cup of hot coffee on her lap, resulting in third-degree burns.
She originally sought $20,000 to cover her medical bills but ultimately received nearly $3 million in punitive damages, although this amount was later reduced.
