Disney denies fault in monorail crash
Featured, News — By admin on March 23, 2010 at 10:53 amBy Sarah Lundy, Orlando Sentinel
Walt Disney World is admitting no fault in the death of a monorail driver during a collision at the theme park last summer, according to documents filed in Orange County court.
Lawyers for Christine Wuennenberg have accused Disney of reckless conduct leading to the July 5 crash that killed her son, 21-year-old Austin Wuennenberg, a Disney monorail pilot. The suit was filed in January.
Disney did acknowledge some details raised in the suit, such as: Before the collision, the monorail shop panel operator incorrectly reported that a track switch had been realigned properly. It also admitted that monorail pilot was told to go in reverse.
The track switched was never realigned, causing a train to go back down the Epcot line and into the monorail driven by Wuennenberg.
The accident occurred around 2 a.m. as the first monorail tried to transfer from the resort’s Epcot line to a short spur that leads to a Magic Kingdom line and onto the system’s maintenance bay.
Disney also reported the monorail coordinator requested to leave work because of an illness. The manager, who was at a restaurant with other Disney workers, granted the request and assumed the coordinator’s duties via radio.
One issue raised in the suit deals with Disney’s policy of having monorail pilots drive from the front cabin even when moving the trains through track switches.
According to a seven-page response, Disney requests a trial by jury.
Sarah Lundy can be reached at slundy@orlandosentinel.com or 407-420-6218.
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22 Comments
I love how lawyers can lie through their [insert orifice here] and feel no remorse whatsoever.
The facts are that Disney didn’t follow the manufacturer’s (Bombardier) recommendations or Disney’s own safety procedures which directly led to this accident and this young man’s untimely death.
I think Disney is going to lose this case outright, and ultimately some of their credibility in the process. Shame on them!
Now wait just a minute!! If a Disney employee (sorry, cast member) was a fault, that means Disney is at fault. Disney and their insurance carrier should have settled this long ago. After all, that is what Workers Comp Insurance is for.
As a litigating attorney, let me translate the story above: The plaintiff’s family wants more than Disney (or its insurer, if not self-insured) is willing to pay or do. (The plaintiff’s settlement demand may not all be monetary, but may include some requirement of public admission or apology, etc.)
The trains had radios, why didn’t the operators use them when they saw something was wrong? Maybe tenting was more important than watching what the other train was doing.
to be honest, I believe that anyone who knows anything about the situation would find disney at fault, the only way disney can get it thrown out is that they’re requesting by jury and that they only need 1 of the jurors to say “I”‘m not 100% sure” and that they can convince 1 person on that jury that they aren’t that sure
WOW, wonder how many “comp” passes this is going to take?
Why did it take the death of an employee for Disney to adopt the safety recommendations of the manufacturer of the monorail? For Disney guidelines to be any less than that shows complacency and lack of responsibility. There is no way this should have ever happened in the first place. Disney employees are agents of the company. If the saftey guidelines set by Disney were not adequate or an employee of Disney was not following the recommended guidelines, then Disney should be responsible. Claiming they are not responsible for this incident is rubbing too much salt on a gaping would. My prayers go to the family of the Disney employee who lost his life and for their success in this lawsuit!
Disney is Morally Bankrupt
No, you’re a hater – so easy to hate. Grow up, move on, there’s nothing to see here.
They have never followed Bombardier’s safety protocols. They had a JANITOR watching the controls while the trained staff all decided to go on break. DUH! Of course they’re at fault.
Please don’t accuse until guilty.
As a Safety Director accidents read my lips ALL accidents are preventable. You have experienced people at the controls, following factory guidelines without short cuts and no accidents happen. The minute one deviates from guidelines, safe practices accidents happen. Was Disney at fault, fault is determined by a judge and jury, death is determined and accounted for when safety is overlooked.
That is ridiculous. I am also a safety director, and accidents can happen even when all the rules are being followed. That may not be the case for this incident @ Disney, but don’t go making stupid blanket statements like that. Accidents can happen at any time, a good safety program simply does it’s best to prevent it. There are no guarantees in life except death and that is what happened to this unfortunate gentleman.
“ALL accidents are preventable” right…like stopping storms on the seas that kill sailors? how do you prevent someone from actually touching the wrong button? You train them. Right, but how do you keep them from making a mistake and hitting the wrong one? it’s called human error and it’s impossible to correct.
What am I missing? This was a Disney employee. He was killed while driving his train performing his job. What is this doing in court? Is this not what workers compensation is for?
I personally know Mrs. Wuennenberg she was a teacher of mine in middle school and I went to school with her son. All she wants is for Disney to own up to their faults they did not handle the situation the way they should have. Accidents do happen but there are ways to prevent them and as someone who has worked with Disney and lived practically down the road from Disney I know that all they want is money. They don’t want to say they messed up they just want it to go away. But she lost her son who meant the world to her, she deserves justice!
Disney is a horrible company to litigate against. It is quite proud of its unreasonable hardball litigation tactics, which it uses not only to save money in pending suits but also to disincentivize plaintiffs and their potential lawyers from filing suit even when the claims are obviously meritorious, like this one appears to be. Its shoddy practices resulted in a death, a plainly preventable accident that would not have occurred had it followed the manufacturer’s instructions and had its manager get up from his meal and go to the post when the coordinator supposedly got sick, instead of sitting there feeding his face and assuming his duties “by radio.”
p.s., I am not the attorney for the plaintiff in this case. I am just someone who knows Disney’s litigation tactics.
I was in the College program when this happened… there are many things that Austin did wrong as well. He could have stopped the train manually before it even got close to the station. If the monorail failed mechanically i.e. the magnetics did not work correctly, then Austin could have stopped the train manually. I know that it was late and that this was his last trip around and I know that us College Progam people work all sorts of hours- maybe he wasn’t paying attention to his job. Have any of you ever done that been sooo tired you can’t function on your job???
I am not saying that it is Austin’s fault nor am I saying that it was Disney’s fault… I know for a fact that the training for the monorail job is quite extensive.
It was an accident plain and simple. Accidents happen.
I practically grew up at WDW since 1974. In the early 80’s I stayed at Fort Wilderness twice, and I lived on the monorail. My friend and I on one trip rode up front with the driver and we pegged him with tons of questions, especially the inner workings of the monorail. One that stuck in my head was one of the safety features built into the system. I asked how close the trains can get? He said they liked to keep around 1/4 mile between the trains. They had a proximity detection device that would actually warn the driver of both trains approaching each other. Supposidly there was also a cut off switch that would actually prevent the trains from moving and come to a stop. All train operators kept their hand on a “Dead Man” switch in order for the train to remain in operation.
I don’t know how much else has changed with the system since then, but I also deal with occupational on the job safety with my company. Accidents can be prevented, not necessarily stopped. As long as the human element is concerned, that will always be the weakest link to any system. There has to be a total 100% commitment across the board by all when it comes to safety. Training, certification, monitoring, inspections, and an actively engaged management are all key to a successful safety program. I agree, the supervisor should have gotten off his duff and immediately responded to take control of the situation, not supervise via radio. At the least deligate to an assistant manager or supervisor to take over, etc.
As for who was at fault is not as important as the fact someone lost their life! Fingers can be pointed and blame thrown around, it still will not bring that young man back. Life is to precious and it can not be replaced. The investigation should have edreveal what was the cause be it mechanical, human error, or both. From that corrections and improvements need to be intergrated to not allow this kind of accident to happen again. Because it is now the preview and domain of the courts, then we must allow the process to work. Whether it is a single individual or a corportation, they have the right to trial and are innocent until proven guilty.
While I have enjoyed all my years of attending the parks, everyone is entiled to their opinion regarding the Disney Company. I even have said that if Mr. Disney where alive today, he would probably not be very happy with some of the things going on today. However, least we forget the life that was lost and not allow his memory to become overshadowed by public opinion and such. Both colors of the trains have been retired, and the one train has been reconfigured into a new train. A new color was designated in Mr. Wuennenberg’s honor and the new train is a rolling memorial to him.
If you hate Disney so much, why are you even reading this page?
Oh please, spare us from your whining. Disney provides quality family entertainment and accidents happen. At least I know I will never see the likes of you at WDW.
No, you’re a hater – so easy to hate and you’re just another excuse maker for your own pitiful place in the world. You saw the headline and cou’dn’t wait to spew hate. That said, this is what’s wrong with society. A million people dream of having a job like the one Austin Wuennenberg had – a Disney Monorail Pilot – are you kidding me?! The staff made errors – like all workers everywhere do – and now you want to impugn all of Disney in a scorched earth manner? Grow up, move on, there’s nothing to see here.