The Supreme Court has ordered the National Network of Spanish Railways (RENFE) to pay €147,357 in compensation to a woman who lost a leg as a result of injuries sustained when falling to the track from the staircase of one of the carriages as the train was moving off.
The accident occured on May 23rd 1993 at Figueres (Girona) station. The woman had got up from her seat and returned to the platform to help a family with their luggage. As a result of injuries sustained, the woman had to have one of her legs amputated.
She then issued a lawsuit against RENFE, the train driver, the station master and the station controller responsible for regulating the movement of trains. The suit was dismissed by the District Court on the grounds that the accident was exclusively the fault of the victim as she got off the train while it was moving.
The woman appealed to the Provincial Court in Girona in 2003 and the court found the defendants severally liabl;e and ordered them to pay €147,357 compensation.
The station controller then appealed this decision to the Supreme Court.
The Supreme Court ruled that it was RENFE who should pay the compensation, absolving the station controller from liablity in the case.
The ruling explains that it is the company, namely RENFE, who regulates the activity, configuration and timetables of trains and the fact that the train did not have a system of automatically locking doors to prevent passengers from getting on or off the train when it was in motion was purely the responsibility of the company and not of individual employees.
The Supreme Court ruling added that it could only be the company, RENFE, who was liable in this case otherwise it would imply that a worker could be held responsible for an accident purely on the grounds of being an employee and being at the scene of an accident when it happens.