Maryland’s highest court has issued a ruling against Metro, saying the transit agency cannot be protected under a state cap on damages in a lawsuit from a motorcyclist hit by a bus.
The Maryland Court of Appeals opinion has broad implications for the transit agency and people injured in the state by making the agency subject to the same parameters as in the District and Virginia.
“It means the world to Sylvester Proctor, I can tell you that,” said his trial attorney, John Low. “He’s permanently disabled and he’s got these massive medical bills.”
The question arose when Proctor and his wife sued the transit agency for $7 million following an April 9, 2008, crash in Lanham.
Proctor, now 55, had been a truck driver for Prince George’s County for 35 years, making some $50,000 a year, Low said. But after spending months in intensive care, he is permanently disabled. He has braces on his legs and suffered brain damage. Meanwhile, Low said, his medical bills top more than $700,000.
Metro had argued that it was subject to a cap on damages of $200,000 for state agencies.
The agency had offered $200,000 to settle the case, then $200,000 more for Proctor’s wife, but Proctor’s team rejected the offer.
The case was put on hold while the broader legal question was answered as to whether Metro fell under Maryland’s tort rules for state agencies, a precedence established by a lower court’s ruling in 2008. The problem was that there were no caps in Virginia and the District, which, with Maryland, make up the compact that governs Metro.
The Court of Appeals opinion says the compact, approved by Congress, is equivalent to a federal law and cannot be overridden by the Maryland legislature.
“It put Maryland in line with the two jurisdictions,” said Andrew Baida, Proctor’s attorney before the court.
The opinion opens the door for Proctor’s case to continue without the $200,000 constraint.
“Metro does not have any plans to appeal the decision because the decision was from the highest court in the state of Maryland,” spokesman Steven Taubenkibel said. “At this point, we are still reviewing the ruling and its implications to Metro.”
The agency’s board of directors plans to discuss the ruling and its implications during an executive session behind closed doors Thursday.
