Administration Status:
On March 31, 2026, Epiq mailed final award payments in relation to valid Voluntary Exposure (“Personal Injury”) Claim submissions. If you had been mailed a partial award in December 2025, the second check represents the remaining portion of your approved award. If you were not mailed a partial award payment this past December, then the mailed check represents your total Voluntary Exposure Claim award payment. Some payments, including those relating to minors at the time of the Claim submission and those relating to a deceased or incapacitated Settlement Class Member, require additional processes and were not mailed as part of the March 31 distribution.
Appeals of the Class Action Settlement were resolved on March 2, 2026, and are now complete. Under the Settlement terms, this means that Direct Payment and Business Loss Payments can now proceed. Epiq anticipates valid Direct Payment Claims will be paid by the end of June 2026. Business Loss Claim submissions are still under review and are anticipated to be paid later in 2026.
The Settlement Website details the class action lawsuit that involves the Persons and Businesses harmed by the Norfolk Southern Corporation and Norfolk Southern Railway Company (collectively “Norfolk Southern”) for losses they suffered from the February 3, 2023, derailment of Norfolk Southern Train 32N, including the “vent and burn” of five railcars on February 6, 2023. The Honorable Benita Y. Pearson of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Ohio is the judge overseeing this case, called In re East Palestine Train Derailment, Case No. 4:23-cv-00242. In the lawsuit, the Plaintiffs allege that Norfolk Southern (among others) caused the Incident and, as a result, the Settlement Class suffered real property damage, personal property damage, displacement expenses, lost wages, loss of business income, diminution of property value, increased risk of disease, emotional distress, disruption, inconvenience, loss of use and enjoyment of property and loss of goodwill. Norfolk Southern denies the claims asserted in the lawsuit and denies any wrongdoing, including that it violated any law.
You are a Settlement Class Member if you lived, worked, owned property, or owned or operated a business within 20-miles of the Derailment Site from February 3, 2023, to April 26, 2024. You are excluded from the Settlement Class if you are a director or duly elected and approved officer of Norfolk Southern, or any of its parents, subsidiaries, or affiliates; Norfolk Southern employees, and contractors of Norfolk Southern and their employees, who were specifically sent by Norfolk Southern to the area in and around the Derailment Site to respond to the Incident and do not otherwise fall within the definition of Settlement Class; Norfolk Southern’s Counsel; Class Counsel; a government, political subdivision, public entity, or public agency; and the judge presiding over this Action and the judge’s staff.
This Website explains important rights you may have. These rights and options, and the deadlines to exercise them, are further explained in the Notice you may have received, or you may review the Frequently Asked Questions page of this website for additional information. Your legal rights were affected whether you acted or not.