j.m@talk
06-11-2003, 07:46 PM
NEW YORK (Reuters) - A South African tourist sued New York City's transit authority for $10 million on Tuesday, alleging a conductor slammed a subway train window on his finger when he asked if he was on the right train.
Retired telecommunications engineer Pieter Swanepoel, 62, and his wife, Sheila, 59, were sightseeing in the Big Apple last December, his lawyer said.
"When the A Train pulled into the 42nd Street station, my client leaned on the conductor's windowsill to balance himself and asked him if the A Train was the one he needed to get back to Kennedy Airport," attorney Mitchell Kessler said.
"Suddenly, the conductor slammed the window shut and sheared off Pieter's finger."
As the subway train pulled out of the station, "Pieter saw a piece of bleeding bone sticking out," Kessler said. "He told me that the conductor's manner was not friendly or helpful."
Kessler said Swanepoel, of Port Elizabeth, South Africa, complained that he lost the tip of his index finger and bled heavily.
A New York City Transit Authority spokesman declined to comment on the lawsuit in Manhattan Supreme Court, which accuses the agency of being "careless and reckless" by hiring "incompetent, unqualified and unskilled employees."
Retired telecommunications engineer Pieter Swanepoel, 62, and his wife, Sheila, 59, were sightseeing in the Big Apple last December, his lawyer said.
"When the A Train pulled into the 42nd Street station, my client leaned on the conductor's windowsill to balance himself and asked him if the A Train was the one he needed to get back to Kennedy Airport," attorney Mitchell Kessler said.
"Suddenly, the conductor slammed the window shut and sheared off Pieter's finger."
As the subway train pulled out of the station, "Pieter saw a piece of bleeding bone sticking out," Kessler said. "He told me that the conductor's manner was not friendly or helpful."
Kessler said Swanepoel, of Port Elizabeth, South Africa, complained that he lost the tip of his index finger and bled heavily.
A New York City Transit Authority spokesman declined to comment on the lawsuit in Manhattan Supreme Court, which accuses the agency of being "careless and reckless" by hiring "incompetent, unqualified and unskilled employees."