COLUMBUS, Ohio (Legal Newsline) — The Association of American Railroads is claiming Ohio's newly enacted law requiring at least two crew members for freight railroads is unconstitutional.
Association of American Railroads filed a complaint June 29 in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio against state Attorney General Dave Yost and others alleging violation of the Federal Railroad Safety Act and other claims.
The plaintiff - a nonprofit trade association for freight, passenger and commuter railroads - alleges that Ohio's "Crew Size Law" requiring freight railroads to operate in almost all circumstances with at least two crew members is unconstitutional. It claims the Crew Size Law is preempted by the ICC Termination Act and Federal Railroad Safety Act.
It alleges that the Crew Size Law would subject railroad companies to "immediate" injury and by complying with the law, they would give up "their right under federal law to operate safely and efficiently, unencumbered by minimum-crew-size requirements." The plaintiff claims that freight railroads have used one-person crews safely in a variety of situations, particularly in "remotely controlled locomotive operations," and that single-person trains are just as safe as multiple-person operations, according to accident data.
The plaintiffs and the class seek monetary relief, interest and all other just relief. They are represented by Jonathan Olivito and Amy Vogel of Taft Stettinius & Hollister LLP in Columbus and Thomas Dupree, Jr., and Jacob Spencer of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP in Washington, D.C.
U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio Eastern Division case number 2:23-CV-02096-MHW-KAJ