Seong Sil Kim v. New York City Transit Authority

On May 3, 2000, Seong Sil Kim lay down on the subway tracks just north of 34th Street on the West Side of Manhattan. Soon thereafter she was hit by an train and was nearly killed. She suffered traumatic amputation of the right hand except for the thumb; multiple skull and facial bone fractures; fractures to the right radius; fractured left toes; and lacerations of the face, abdomen, and leg, resulting in permanent scarring. Kim then sued the New York City Transit Authority for negligence and substantial damages. ==Lawsuit==

In the subsequent trial, it was revealed that a passenger called '9-1-1' about six minutes before the accident, saying that he had seen a person lying on the tracks. Train operators were notified immediately, and the driver of the E train was moving between when he saw Kim and tried to stop the train before reaching her. That was an appropriate speed for the New York City Subway "caution" alert under which his train was operating. However, Kim's lawyers presented an expert witness who calculated that the operator should have been able to stop his train in time had he been going or less, under an "extreme caution" alert. Following a post-trial motion, the damage award was further reduced to $5 million. Finally in 2006, a panel of appellate judges ruled 4–1 that there was legally insufficient evidence to support a finding of Transit Authority negligence or to establish which of several possible trains caused Kim's injuries. The trial judge was reversed, the jury verdict vacated, and the complaint dismissed. ==References==