CSX insurance coverage dispute over Chicago worker suits

CSX insurance coverage dispute is now playing out in federal court, with CSX Transportation suing a group of major insurers over worker injury suits tied to a Chicago rail construction project.

This is reported by the railway transport news portal Railway Supply.

In a Legal Insights piece from Insurance Business, the railroad says the carriers have stayed silent despite repeated tenders.

Background on the Forest Hill Flyover project

The complaint, filed on November 26, 2025, in the US District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, focuses on coverage and indemnity issues arising from construction of the Forest Hill Flyover project at CSX’s Forest Hill Yard on West 79th Street in Chicago. CSX Transportation, Inc. (CSXT) describes the case as being at an early stage and stresses that the filing does not yet reflect any court rulings on its allegations.

Contracts behind the CSX insurance coverage dispute

According to the lawsuit, CSXT owned the project and brought in Granite Construction Inc. and TranSystems Corporation under separate agreements to perform work at the site.

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A Granite contract dated May 24, 2022, and an earlier TranSystems contract dated November 3, 2020, are presented as the key agreements linking Granite Construction and TranSystems to the Forest Hill Flyover project and to the current dispute.

CSXT says the Granite contract required the contractor, at its own expense, to maintain commercial general liability insurance that would respond to Granite’s “direct and assumed liability” under the agreement and would list CSXT’s railroad as an additional named insured. Granite is also alleged to have agreed to “indemnify, defend, and hold harmless” CSXT and its affiliates against a broad range of liabilities tied to Granite’s presence on railroad property or its performance of the work, including circumstances “whether or not attributable in whole or part to the negligence of RAILROAD.”

The TranSystems agreement is described as having similar risk-transfer provisions. CSXT states that TranSystems was obligated to purchase and maintain commercial general liability insurance with contractual liability, along with workers’ compensation, employer’s liability, business automobile liability, and, where applicable, professional liability insurance. TranSystems allegedly undertook to indemnify and hold CSXT harmless for incidents caused or contributed to by its own acts or omissions, or those of its agents and subcontractors, except where CSXT’s own negligence or intentional misconduct was the sole proximate cause. Both the Granite and TranSystems contracts are said to include Florida choice-of-law clauses.

Chicago rail worker injury lawsuits and insurers’ tenders

CSXT argues that these risk-transfer provisions are now being tested by two Chicago rail worker injury lawsuits filed by Granite employees. The complaint recounts that on November 13, 2024, worker Christopher Valente sued CSXT and TranSystems, alleging he was injured on May 23, 2024, when a crane lost control of a load that struck him while he was working on the Forest Hill Flyover project.

A second action, filed on January 16, 2025, by worker Henry Ipema, alleges that he fell from a platform on December 20, 2023, because of allegedly inadequate and unsafe tie-off for fall protection at the same job site. In both cases, CSXT says it has submitted answers denying liability, and together the matters are referred to as the Valente and Ipema lawsuits.

At the center of the CSX insurance coverage dispute is CSXT’s assertion that it holds additional insured status under commercial general liability and umbrella or excess policies purchased not only by Granite and TranSystems, but also by Gannett Fleming, Inc. and related entities.

The suit names as insurer defendants Zurich National Insurance Company, Transportation Insurance Co., Continental Casualty Company, National Fire Insurance Company of Hartford, PA Manufacturers Indemnity Co., Old Republic Union Insurance Co., and Travelers Property Casualty Insurance Company of America.

The complaint maintains that the insurers’ policies provide both defense and indemnity coverage for the Valente and Ipema lawsuits.

CSXT alleges that tenders submitted in March, May, and October 2025 drew no response. As a result, the railroad asks the court to declare that each insurer must defend and indemnify CSXT against the Chicago rail worker injury claims and reimburse all related damages, costs, and attorneys’ fees. CSXT also seeks statutory penalties, fees, and costs under Illinois Insurance Code section 155, arguing that the insurers’ lack of response amounts to “unreasonable and vexatious” conduct.

Construction-site risk transfer and contractual indemnity

Alongside its claims against the insurers, CSXT brings contractual indemnity claims against TranSystems, Granite, and The Roderick Group Inc., doing business as Ardmore Roderick. The complaint states that TranSystems and Granite must defend, indemnify, hold harmless, and reimburse CSXT for any amounts it may be required to pay, as well as for defense costs, in connection with both the Valente and Ipema lawsuits. Roderick is alleged to have comparable obligations in relation to the Ipema case.

For insurance and construction-risk professionals, the filing highlights how additional insured status, construction-site risk transfer, and carrier responses to tenders work across primary and umbrella layers.

The practical direction of the CSX insurance coverage dispute will only become clear once the insurers and contractor defendants set out their positions in court, while the operational role of the Forest Hill Flyover in Chicago’s rail network has also been covered by Railway Supply.

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