A judge this week dismissed a former train conductor’s personal injury lawsuit against Brightline, calling it a “shotgun pleading” that was overly long and contained irrelevant material.
Former conductor Darren Brown, a West Palm Beach resident with a long history in railroads, sued the Florida passenger rail company in mid-December, alleging that his involvement in numerous Brightline fatalities left him psychologically wounded. Brown was in the train cab when the Brightline struck and killed at least eight people, the Miami Herald previously reported.
In his lawsuit, he blamed Brightline for fostering a culture that “normalized frequent fatalities, minimized emotional responses to trauma, and stigmatized requests for mental-health support.”
One of Brightline’s earliest conductors, Brown worked for Brightline from 2017 to 2023. He was featured in a Nov. 6 story by the Miami Herald and NPR member station WLRN, as part of the reporting team’s Killer Train series and podcast. Once enamored by trains, Brown saw so many gruesome deaths on the Brightline tracks, he suffered post traumatic stress disorder and left the business entirely.
He’s seeking $60 million in damages and a host of trauma-care improvements from Brightline Trains Florida LLC and parent company Fortress Investment Group LLC, under the Federal Employers’ Liability Act.
In a ruling on Tuesday, U.S. Magistrate Judge Bruce Reinhart granted Brightline’s request that Brown’s lawsuit be dismissed. Judge Reinhart’s ruling gives Brown until May 7 to request approval to file a new lawsuit. Brown filed suit in mid-December as a “pro se” litigant not represented by an attorney. As such, the judge said he should be given more leeway than a plaintiff with a professional attorney.
“Mr. Brown filed a Complaint that is almost fifty pages long,” the judge wrote, “and attached exhibits that make the filing over two hundred pages. The Complaint begins referencing the causes of action on page thirty-eight and makes references to seemingly irrelevant information, such as other lawsuits against Brightline.”
The judge said the lawsuit constitutes a “shotgun pleading” that doesn’t give Brightline a fair picture of the accusations.
Brightline, a private, for-profit company that operates passenger service from Miami to Orlando, also argues that it doesn’t fall under the federal act Brown is suing under. That issue isn’t settled.
Brightline says it doesn’t meet the definition of a “rail carrier” and is instead an “urban rapid transit system” not covered under the federal act. The distinction is important; if Brightline doesn’t fall under FELA, Brown’s efforts to sue for tens of millions would be hobbled. But on March 31, in a separate case, a federal judge agreed with the newly formed Brightline employee union, Transport Workers Union, that Brightline is indeed a rail carrier under the Railway Labor Act and has received or benefited from federal grants aimed at rail carriers.
Brown said he will refile.
“This dismissal was based on how the complaint was structured, not on the substance of the claims,” Brown said Wednesday morning. “... I remain confident in the facts and fully intend to pursue this case. I’m supported every step of the way by my parents and my 3-year-old son, Force, who give me the strength to keep pushing forward.”
Brightline officials said they can’t comment on pending litigation.
Brightline trains have killed at least 205 people — most of them on foot — since test runs began in 2017, the news team found. The most recent deaths were two pedestrians killed on March 24 — one in Boynton Beach and the other in Deerfield Beach, according to news reports. The company has not been found at fault for any of the accidents.
This story was originally published in the Miami Herald, a WLRN news partner.
