‘Midnight Rider‘ producers and Gregg Allman are facing a new injury lawsuit.
Antonyia Verna says the February 20th train incident that killed Sarah Jones left her with serious physical injuries and traumatic stress disorder.
Makeup artist Antonyia Verna is the latest crew member to file a lawsuit over injuries connected to a train collision during the making of the Gregg Allman movie, Midnight Rider.
In a Georgia county court, Verna has added her complaint to the one previously filed by the parents of Sarah Jones, a camera assistant killed in that February 20th incident, and hairstylist Joyce Gilliard.
Verna is suing Allman himself, as well as Charles Baxter, the location manager, Unclaimed Freight Productions, Open Road Films and other supervising personnel on the film.
According to the lawsuit, Midnight Rider producers did not get permission to film on the trestle bridge and concealed that from the rest of the lawsuit. The lawsuit continues to allege that defendants failed to take minimum safety precautions and failed to comply with applicable industry standards.
The Hollywood Reporter points out that this is a negligence claim and that producers chose a dangerous filming location.
This being a negligence claim, Verna’s attorneys spell out the alleged lack of precautions taken by Midnight Rider filmmakers, including selecting an “unreasonably dangerous site for the filming location,” failing to “station safety personnel,” failing to station “look-out” individuals to watch for an approaching train, failing to “hold a safety meeting prior to filming,” failing to “have an on-site medic present,” and so forth.
Crew members were told that they had “60 seconds to remove themselves” but the train came faster than 60 seconds and there was not enough time. Verna says the injures she suffered include “serious physical injuries, medical and other necessary expenses, post-traumatic stress, mental anguish, lost income, and mental and physical pain and suffering.”
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