The Oregonian | By Maxine Bernstein | June 21, 2024
The Lane Transit District has agreed to pay $1 million to settle a wrongful death lawsuit filed by the family of a 69-year-old man who was beaten to death while riding a bus on the way to church in Eugene in 2022.
Travis A. Sanders of Springfield was riding the EmX bus when he was attacked about 9 a.m. Nov. 19, 2022, by another man who punched him with such force that it broke his neck and severed his spinal cord, according to his daughter. He died of head trauma at a local hospital.
The bus at the time was traveling near East 11th Avenue and Kincaid Street near the University of Oregon in Eugene.
The suit alleged that the transit district failed to provide adequate security for passengers in the wake of complaints by drivers, riders and the drivers’ union about violence on the transit system.
The district was notified before Sanders’ death “that if additional measures were not taken, someone would end up getting killed on its buses,” the suit said.
“This was a devastating situation that reached its legal conclusion this week. Lane Transit District hopes this decision brings some relief to all involved,” said Anni Katz, Lane Transit spokesperson.
In a statement after Travis Sanders’ killing, Jameson T. Auten, the transit district’s chief executive officer, district board President Caitlin Vargas and Amalgamated Transit Union 757 executive board officer William J. Bradley called the violence on the bus “shocking, sickening, and maddening.”
“While we evaluate all aspects of this incident internally, we also must fully recognize and acknowledge that this horrific incident is a symptom of a larger community issue that impacts all walks of life – not just our bus service,” their statement said.
The transit district said it would work with “union leadership, community partners, and governmental agencies” to provide safe service to its passengers.
The transit district has increased staffing in its public safety department, allowing for an increased presence of public safety officers throughout the system and more frequent fare checks, Katz said Friday. It also has hired a community resource liaison and partnered with nonprofits to offer extra support to riders who may need it, she said.
Sanders, who cared for his elderly mother in Springfield, had taken the bus that day to attend a Seventh-day Adventist Church in Eugene. He was using a free bus pass from his medical insurance company, according to his daughter, Jennifer Sanders.
He was carrying his Bible when another man on the bus asked to see it and then punched Sanders, Sanders said.
Police later arrested Derek Jules Dinnell, 32, on an allegation of second-degree murder. A Lane County judge initially found Dinnell unable to aid in his own defense, but then found Dinnell fit to proceed after he was treated at the Oregon State Hospital. Trial is set for Nov. 5.
Dinnell’s defense lawyers earlier this year have notified the court of his interest in pleading a guilty except for insanity defense.
“No amount of money will ever bring my father back,” Jennifer Sanders said Friday. “With this case, we were just wanting to have our voices heard and the bus drivers’ voices heard. We just wanted changes so this wouldn’t happen to someone else’s family member.”
The suit cited statements from current and former Lane County bus drivers who expressed concerns about safety on the buses.
One former driver wrote that “many of us have voiced our concerns about the ever-increasing violence on the EmX” buses and that he had witnessed violence and had been a “victim of abuse from the ridership.” The bus loops along a 28-mile route from Eugene to Springfield and averages 12,000 riders a day.
Another exhibit filed with the suit showed a message scrawled in black marker on a whiteboard in the transit district’s break room that said, “The West Eugene EmX is unsafe…When does the company take action? Does someone need to die first?” The message is believed to have been written sometime in late October 2022, according to attorney Michael Fuller, who represented Sanders’ estate.
Fuller said the $1 million settlement was accepted on behalf of Sanders’ estate, in light of a liability cap of $1.6 million and the cost of a trial.
