Passengers Trapped in L'Enfant Plaza Smoke Emergency Sue WMATA for Negligence

On January 12, 2015, a Yellow Line Metro train stalled in a smoke-filled tunnel just south of L'Enfant Plaza station in Washington, D.C. An electrical malfunction caused arcing along the third rail, sending thick black smoke through the train cars and into the tunnel. Passengers on board had no clear path to exit and sat in the darkness for as long as 45 minutes before rescue crews reached them. One passenger, Carol Glover, 61, died from acute respiratory failure caused by smoke inhalation. At least 84 others were hospitalized.

Malbert Rich, a Virginia resident who regularly commuted through L'Enfant Plaza, was among those trapped. He later said the smoke became so thick that he could not see across the car, and he texted his family to say goodbye. Rich was hospitalized after the incident and, within days, retained attorney Kim Brooks-Rodney of Cohen & Cohen to pursue a claim against the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority.

Brooks-Rodney brought significant background to the case. Before joining Cohen & Cohen, she had served as assistant general counsel for WMATA from 1988 to 1993, and had previously represented families of victims from the 2009 Metro crash that killed nine people. That institutional knowledge shaped the firm's theory of the case: WMATA knew about deteriorating electrical infrastructure and failed to address it, and its emergency protocols left passengers without a safe or timely means of evacuation.

The Rich case was one of roughly 100 passenger lawsuits filed against WMATA in the aftermath of the incident. WMATA moved to dismiss the consolidated litigation and sought to shift blame to D.C. Fire and Emergency Medical Services for the slow response. A federal judge later ruled that the District of Columbia could not be named as a defendant because it was entitled to sovereign immunity for actions taken during the emergency response.

The National Transportation Safety Board concluded that WMATA management had failed to address foreseeable safety risks that contributed to the smoke event. Separately, Carol Glover's family, which had originally sought $50 million in damages, reached a sealed settlement with Metro in July 2018. The terms of the individual passenger settlements, including the matter brought on behalf of Rich, were not made public.