Norfolk Southern to pay $600m settlement over toxic train derailment in Ohio

[beschizza]

Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2024/04/09/norfolk-southern-to-pay-600m-settlement-over-toxic-train-derailment-in-ohio.html

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[matteblack]

Wow! That is a pittance. I guess not having to say you’re sorry for your bloodthirsty incompetence is the price we all have to pay for Freedom.™

[adamrice]

Assume 25% goes to the law firm representing the class. That leaves 450 million to cover, say, 2000 people, or $225,000/person. Not chump change, but considering the unknown and unknowable long-term health consequences, not such a bargain.

Also, this needs to cover the hit on home prices in the affected area. Perhaps someone would buy one of those homes, but I have to assume the value of one of those homes is approximately $0. Taking that into account, recipients of this award are not really making out.

And obviously, it’s not enough of a ding on Norfolk Southern to force them to straighten up and fly right.

[anon94804983]

Should have bankrupted them. They don’t give a flying fuck about anything but profit.

[Murgatroyd]

I inherited a few shares of their stock from my mother several years ago. The annual shareholder meeting is coming up in May; there’s a group of shareholders who are trying to unseat the BoD.

I have received three phone calls in the past week from people I can only assume are representatives of the current BoD. The want to (A) know if I have received the proxy materials for the upcoming meeting, (B) ask if I am planning on voting in the meeting, (C) offer to explain to me how the proposed candidates for election to the board have been carefully selected by the current BoD to maximize shareholder value and keep Norfolk Southern an active, valueable property, and (D) explain how the proposal by the “upstart” group will damage the company and destroy its value.

I found the timing of the (completely unsolicited) calls to be a bit… suspect. Particularly so given that I’ve never received such calls from any corporation I own stock in over the past decade. Curious, isn’t it?