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Metro-North engineer Rockefeller who dozed off gets lifetime pension

Metro-North engineer William Rockefeller was told he's been awarded a disability pension

Thomas C. Zambito
The Journal News
Metro-North engineer William Rockefeller
  • William Rockefeller has already won a disability pension from a federal railroad retirement board
  • Rockefeller sued Metro-North three weeks ago, claiming the railroad's negligence is to blame for the crash

The Metro-North engineer who fell asleep at the controls of a speeding train three years ago, causing a derailment that killed four and injured dozens of passengers, will receive a $3,200-a-month disability pension from the railroad for the rest of his life, the Journal News/lohud.com has learned.

William Rockefeller found out recently that the MTA’s Pension Disability Medical Review Board had taken his side in his appeal of a separate pension board's September decision turning back his request.

“The Pension Disability Medical Review Board reviewed the appeal and determined that Mr. Rockefeller is disabled from performing his function as an engineer and he is eligible now to receive his pension,” the MTA said. The board is made up of medical professionals.

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The total monthly payout will be approximately $3,200, the MTA added. It will be in addition to a federal railroad retirement pension Rockefeller was awarded earlier this year. That amount was unknown.

Officials cited medical privacy issues in refusing to discuss Rockefeller’s disability. In September, Rockefeller’s union said he was seeking the disability for a post-traumatic stress disorder brought on by the accident on Dec. 1, 2013.

Rockefeller’s Manhattan-bound train was going 82 mph along a curve marked for 30 mph when it derailed, coming to rest along the banks of the Hudson River near Spuyten-Duyvil.

Several passengers were thrown through the train’s windows and Metro-North air conditioning mechanic Samuel Rivera was paralyzed.

Several lawsuits filed by passengers as well as the families of those who were killed are still pending. In October, The Journal News/lohud.com reported that nearly $32 million in settlements and legal costs have been paid out to resolve the claims of passengers injured in the derailment.

The award comes just three weeks after Rockefeller filed a $10 million federal lawsuit against Metro-North, claiming the commuter rail was to blame for the accident.

Rockefeller's lawyer mum

Rockefeller’s attorney, Ira Maurer, blamed Metro-North for the crash, saying the commuter rail had the available mechanisms to prevent the accident from taking place but failed to employ them. The mechanism he referred to could apply the train’s brakes automatically if the engineer is speeding through a curve.

Maurer declined to comment on the pension award.

“Who told you that?,” Maurer asked. “I haven’t spoken to him in the last week. I’m not going to feed the news frenzy.”

Maurer said there were no plans to dismiss the lawsuit filed and said the evidence will show that Metro-North was largely to blame for the crash.

Rockefeller learned in March that he would receive a U.S. Railroad Retirement Board pension for an unspecified disability.

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In September, the Journal News/lohud.com reported that the MTA’s Defined Benefit Pension Board's Medical Board denied Rockefeller’s request for a disability pension.

But, MTA officials noted then, Rockefeller could appeal that decision.

It is unclear what changed the medical review board’s mind.

James Fahey, the director of the executive board for Rockefeller’s union, the Association of Commuter Rail Employees, declined to comment on Rockefeller but, in a reference to Rivera, said: “I pray every day for a miracle for Sammy.”

Samuel Rivera was left a quadriplegic after being injured when a Metro-North train derailed in 2013. 
Seth Harrison/The Journal News)

Rivera was left a quadriplegic and has been living in a Cortlandt Manor Nursing home. He was off-duty and on the way into the city to spend time with his teenage son when the crash occurred.

His lawsuit against Metro-North is still pending.

Rockefeller, 49, remains listed as “out of service” on Metro-North and has not been collecting his $100,000-a-year engineer’s salary. He has never faced a disciplinary hearing for the derailment. Rockefeller had worked for Metro-North for 11 years.

He is still living with his wife in Germantown, where he is largely confined to his home. He’s been assigned a service dog to assist him in daily activities, officials say.