44 Years Later, Train Ride Ends
Arbitral proceedings typically last less than a year. A lawsuit is usually resolved within two years. If an appeal is filed, a case can easily drag on for three to five years. However, the fight of 32 railroad workers to receive the value of their lost seniority and job protection lasted 44 years. The suit survived the deaths of 30 of the 32 plaintiffs as well as their lead counsel (his daughter took over the case after his death in 2000).
Following the merger of the Pennsylvania Railroad and New York Central Railroad in 1968, some workers were laid off and, if brought back to work, were given temporary assignments at a lesser wage. The 32 workers filed suit in 1969 in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Ohio, and the combined Penn Central Transportation Corp. filed for bankruptcy protection less than three years after the merger. The case involved several arbitration hearings (initially sent to arbitration by the district court in 1976) and federal court appeals. A 1979 attempt by the company to settle the case for $95,000 was rejected by the plaintiffs. The defense took the position that they were not employees following the layoffs, and that the bankruptcy of Penn Central eviscerated the claims. However, the plaintiffs argued that the Bankruptcy Act of 1898 provided carved-out protections for railroad workers, and that they were employees. It also seems that the company is still in existence, albeit no longer in the railroad business, with Penn Central now a part of American Financial Group.
After a federal appeals panel in September upheld the arbitration award and granted interest, the defense finally decided to cut its losses and move on from the dispute. The workers were seeking $564,820 in damages. After adding accumulated interest, the two remaining plaintiffs and the heirs of the 30 deceased ones will split with their counsel $14.7 million.
Although this has been called the longest running U.S. civil dispute, the claim is disputed by a case that allegedly lasted 57 years. Guinness World Records lists the longest current suit by a single individual as one dating back to 1972.
Hat tip to The Wall Street Journal.