A Toronto woman who was pushed onto the tracks of a busy subway station last month is suing TTC, saying nothing has been done to prevent her from being pushed off the platform and first aid workers have been unnecessarily delayed in rescuing her.
Shamsa al-Balushi claims that the TTC did not “implement enough safety protocols on the subway platform”, according to a lawsuit filed Wednesday, and did not order an arriving train to stop in time to prevent it from being trapped in the creep space next to the rails.
She is seeking $ 1 million in damages plus legal costs.
“As long as the attacker who pushed Shamsa off the rails was not hired or linked to TTC, TTC is responsible for the incident,” her lawyers said in a lawsuit.
Edith Freyn, a 45-year-old woman from Toronto, now faces charges of attempted murder in connection with the incident.
The incident was videotaped by a surveillance camera, which later became public.
Al-Balushi was under the platform for about 30 minutes before first aid officers managed to retrieve her and take her to hospital.
Her lawyers say the period was unreasonable “given the seriousness of the incident”.
Al-Balushi suffered several broken ribs, neck and back pain and bruising on much of her upper body.
She quit her job three weeks before the incident and took on a new role.
As she is still on probation for her new job, she is recovering from her injuries without any access to benefits.
She does not own a car and continues to take TTC while recovering from her injuries.
“Shamsa’s continued reliance on the TTC has significantly contributed to her deteriorating mental health since the incident,” her lawyers said.
None of Al-Balushi’s lawyers responded to CP24’s requests to comment on the matter on Thursday.
None of her allegations have been verified in court.
For its part, the TTC declined to comment on the issue on Thursday, with a spokesman telling CP24 that it was not “commenting on current legal issues”.
After the accident and years earlier, transit defenders insisted on doors on the edge of the platform to prevent passengers on the platform from falling on the rails or getting in the way of an oncoming train.
As early as 2018, the cost of installing such barriers in the Toronto subway network was fixed at more than $ 1 billion.
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