Elkridge Man's Family Sues Amtrak Over Derailment

Family members of the Howard County man killed in the recent Philadelphia train derailment have filed suit against Amtrak.

Bob Gildersleeve, 45, of Elkridge was in the first car of the train that crashed off its rails the evening of May 12.

Gildersleeve, vice president for corporate accounts for Ecolab in Towson, was on his way to a business meeting in New York when the train derailed at 106 mph. He was sitting in the front passenger car.

A wrongful death lawsuit filed Monday accuses Amtrak of negligence and outrageous conduct on behalf of Gildersleeve’s wife, two children and parents, according to WBAL.

The National Transportation Safety Board continues to investigate the cause of the derailment. The board determined that the conductor was not on his cell phone while operating the train, which entered a curve at 106 mph when it derailed. The speed limit on the curve is 50 mph, according to the safety board.

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Passengers and employees have filed more than a dozen lawsuits against Amtrak in connection with the derailment, the Philadelphia Business Journal reports.

Eight people including Gildersleeve and more than 200 people were injured in the derailment. The Elkridge man was the last victim to be found; the crash was on a Monday and his body was found Thursday.

Gildersleeve graduated in 1990 from the Culinary Institute of America, where a scholarship fund has been established there in his memory. As of Tuesday, it has raised more than $100,000.

Photo Credit: National Transportation Safety Board.