Normally I object to lawsuits brought against public agencies in which the plaintiff alleges harm was done to him because of the agency’s negligence. There’s too much enticement in these personal injury cases for free money, for which plaintiff’s attorneys have built up a thriving industry with their “Got Injured?” billboards and T.V. commercials.
But in the case of the family that just sued BART for the murder of Corazon Dandan, I’m firmly on their side. I don’t think they’re just looking for free money (although they may well get it). I believe they really do want to hold BART accountable.
Dandan, you may recall, was shoved to her death in front of a BART train last summer. The perp who randomly killed her was a true monster. He’d been arrested “dozens of times and was previously ordered by a judge to stay away from BART trains and stations.” Sadly, BART did nothing to stop him. Anyone who takes BART knows that maniacs routinely prowl the trains and stations. They hop the fare gates while station attendants and BART police look the other way. It’s been this way for years. BART has turned a deaf ear to the crisis, and now they’re probably having going to pay a lot of money to the Dandan family for their deliberate negligence. Which means, of course, that all of us are going to have to pay, through higher fares.
BART could have cleaned up this mess a long time ago. Why didn’t they? Because BART, like so many other public agencies, has been taken over by the woke DEI crowd. Unbelievably, BART’s website still touts their Diversity, Equity and Inclusion program, which “aims to provide an equitable delivery of transit services, create a workplace free of discrimination, harassment, and retaliation, ensure that those who do business with the District are treated equitably and that riders and community members have fair and equal access to our system.” What this means in plain English, of course, is that disreputable lowlifes, who often are people of color, have equal access to the system, whether or not they paid to get in, whether or not they’re dangerous, whether or not they’ve already been ordered to stay away. Under this insane system, Corazon Dandan’s murderer was welcome with open arms by BART’s progressive management, in the name of social equity. That management shares responsibility for her death because they knew the killer was just waiting to attack.
There’s irony here. One of the Dandan family’s law firms is Cotchett, Pitre & McCarthy, a big Burlingame firm. Although it was BART’s DEI program that contributed to Corazon’s wrongful death, Cotchett has a big DEI program of their own they brag about. Whether Cotchett is aware of the irony, I don’t know. If they’re so dumb as not to be, I don’t think they’re very good lawyers.
BART’s DEI program must be immediately terminated. Personally, I wouldn’t mind seeing accessory to murder or manslaughter charges filed against its top managers. This madness must stop.
Steve Heimoff