Three years after a Boston man was dragged to death by a train on the Red Line, the MBTA has reached a settlement with his estate.
Family members of 39-year-old Robinson Lalin of Dorchester sued the MBTA after his death, accusing "carelessness and negligence." Lalin's arm was stuck in the door of a train that dragged him when it left the Broadway station on April 19, 2022.
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WATCH HEREPaperwork filed last month in Suffolk Superior Court shows that the MBTA agreed to settle the lawsuit for $5 million.
"He is glad the case is resolved and he accomplished his goal for some justice for his brother Robinson. He welcomes closure for his family," Robert Norton, an attorney representing Lalin's brother, Kelvin, said in a statement Monday.
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SIGN UP NBC10 Boston reached out to the MBTA for comment, but did not immediately hear back.
Lalin's family argued in its lawsuit that employees did not make a significant effort to make sure all passengers were clear of the doors, which they say should have been done "by leaning out beyond the side of the cart to see that no one is in a position to be struck by closing doors."
It also said the T failed to properly inspect, repair and monitor its equipment.
These things, the lawsuit claimed, "were careless, negligent, wilful, wanton, and/or reckless, and constituted violations of MBTA's legal duties of care as well as its own written policies and procedures."
Lalin got his right arm stuck in the door and was dragged more than 100 feet along the platform, onto a lower surface near the tracks, according to a National Transportation and Safety Board report. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
According to a preliminary report from the NTSB, the door system did not perform properly that night, leading to the tragedy.
The trains are equipped with safety features to prevent them from moving when the doors are obstructed, the NTSB wrote in the report.
The lawsuit called for a judgment against the MBTA for monetary damages, interest, costs and damages from emotional pain and suffering. Lalin left behind a family, including two children.
According to the MBTA the car involved in the April 10 incident and its various components were inspected on March 27, 2022. The door systems were tested at the time, and the test did not identify the short circuit issue which contributed to the incident. Subsequently, the door systems throughout the Red Line fleet were tested for this specific problem, and MBTA personnel found all components performed as designed and did not identify any additional instances of the circuitry problem the incident car experienced.
Experts had told NBC10 Boston that it is the train operator's responsibility to make sure the doors are clear before closing them and departing the station.
Keith Millhouse, a rail safety expert and former chairman of the Metro-Link, Southern California's train system, said the tragedy was "entirely avoidable" and should never have happened.
More on the investigation
Millhouse is not part of this investigation, but the independent safety expert said any time a train leaves the station, it is ultimately up to the train operator to ensure everyone is clear before pulling away from the station.
"If you haven't done that, it is like skipping a portion of your checklist, on a preflight before you take off, it is just standard operating procedure," he said.
“It should be really, really hard for someone to get hurt or die getting on or off the T,” Stacy Thompson, executive director of LivableStreets Alliance, told The Boston Globe.
The railcar was pulled from service and and the train operator was placed on unpaid leave.
