Welcome to Law.com Class Actions: Critical Mass, a weekly briefing for class action and mass tort attorneys.
This week: A new lawsuit targets Norfolk Southern and several government entities over the 2023 train derailment in Ohio. Air crashes on Jan. 29 and Jan. 31 have put the limelight on the Federal Aviation Administration, with lawsuits possible. Find out who Wyndham Hotels & Resorts has retained in a raft of sexual trafficking lawsuits in New Jersey.

Objectors Must Post $850K Bond: ‘A Guardrail, Not a Barrier’
Two years after a Norfolk Southern train derailed in East Palestine, Ohio, more than 700 residents in the area filed a new lawsuit.
Monday’s lawsuit, in Ohio’s Franklin County Court of Common Pleas, comes about four months after a federal judge in Ohio granted final approval to a $600 million class action settlement with Norfolk over the derailment, caused by a defective wheel bearing, and subsequent controlled burn of five rail cars containing vinyl chloride, a toxic chemical. The suit names many of the same owners and operators of the train cars, plus government entities such as the Village of East Palestine and school districts in East Palestine and Columbiana County. Lawyers who brought the suit also filed administrative claims under the Federal Tort Claims Act with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Plaintiffs’ lawyer Kristina Baehr (Just Well Law), who filed the suit with Bressman Law and the Keenan Law Firm, told me: “The local authorities were not part of the original class action, and the local authorities were absolutely part of the mayhem that resulted in the derailment.”
Many of the plaintiffs in the new suit opted out of the class action settlement, she said.
Meanwhile, several objectors plan to appeal the settlement’s approval. On Jan. 16, however, U.S. District Judge Benita Pearson, ordered them to pay $850,000 in appeal bonds. She wrote:
“An appeal bond, in this case, is a guardrail, not a barrier…Rather, the court finds an appeal bond in the amount requested an appropriate response to the costly circumstances the appeals trigger.”
FAA Safety Suggestions: ‘Something’s Got to Be Done’
Two aircraft disasters on the East Coast have lawyers eyeing the FAA, which may have played roles in both: A Jan. 29 incident involving an American Airlines passenger jet and U.S. Army helicopter near Washington D.C., and a Jan. 31 crash of a medical Lear jet in Philadelphia.
In the first incident, an American Airlines regional jet made by Bombardier collided with a Black Hawk helicopter, killing all 67 on board both aircraft. President Donald Trump has blamed the crash on diversity and inclusion efforts involving air traffic controllers. The second incident, which killed six people on board the aircraft, owned and operated by Jet Rescue Air Ambulance, also killed one and injured 24 others on the ground in Philadelphia.
Bob Clifford (Clifford Law Offices) said some experts question the FAA’s role in allowing foreign operators, such as the one in Philadelphia, that have poor compliance with U.S. safety standards. As to the Washington D.C. crash, Clifford called on the FAA to suspend all helicopters in Ronald Reagan Washington International Airport‘s air space. He said there was “plenty of blame to go around,” but he anticipated lawsuits against American Airlines and administration claims to be filed against the FAA, which is in charge of air traffic control. Clifford noted that the FAA has reportedly failed to act on more than 1,000 safety recommendations, telling me:
“That does not surprise me at all, but the number is staggering. Something’s got to be done about that. We need to send Elon Musk to find out how FAA was operating.”
Who Got the Work?
David Sager (DLA Piper) is representing Wyndham Hotels & Resorts in lawsuits in New Jersey’s federal courts alleging human trafficking occurred at its motels. Wyndham, which is based in Parsippany-Troy Hills, faces at least 10 pending suits and settled another with similar claims on Jan. 2. On Jan. 30, U.S. District Judge Susan Wigenton refused to dismiss a case brought under the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act by plaintiff M.J.J., who alleges she was forced to engage in commercial sex acts at franchise motels Super 8 and La Quinta in San Bernardino, California.
Here’s what else is happening:
Roundup Return: A special master in the multidistrict litigation alleging Monsanto‘s Roundup pesticide caused non-Hodgkin lymphoma has recommended that lead counsel receive none of the estimated $24 million in common benefit funds, which should be returned to other lawyers who settled their cases. The recommendation, which U.S. District Judge Vince Chhabria approved on Jan. 15, drew objections from liaison counsel Lori Andrus (Andrus Anderson) and co-lead counsel Aimee Wagstaff (Wagstaff Law Firm), Robin Greenwald (Weitz & Luxenberg) and David Dickens (The Miller Firm), who called the decision “insulting.”
Georgia Reforms: Two weeks after his State of the State address, Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp announced a tort reform package on Jan. 30. Some of the package’s focus are on reducing attorney fees, introducing seat belt evidence in jury trials and forcing third-party litigation funding to be transparent. Plaintiffs’ lawyers are skeptical about the tort reform’s goal of reducing insurance rates.
Philly Verdicts: Philadelphia had more verdicts in 2024 worth eight figures or more than in any single year dating back to 2017. That’s according to Law.com’s Aleeza Furman, who calculated 12 verdicts of $10 million or higher last year. Median damages in 2024 also jumped to $192,664, compared to a range of $92,000 to $100,000 from 2021 to 2023. And, speaking of Philadelphia, here’s a look at a Jan. 30 presentation I gave there at the Duane Morris Class Action Review – 2025 book launch event.
Thanks for reading Critical Mass! I’ll be back next week.