Lawyers for more than a dozen victims in a deadly commuter rail crash accused the engineer's employer of ignoring complaints that he regularly used his cell phone while operating trains.

Another employee said he called managers at Connex Railroad LLC about Robert Sanchez's constant cell phone use about two weeks before the Sept. 12 disaster and complained a second time to a co-worker within three hours of the crash, attorney Edward Pfiester said.

The employee also claimed that some months before the crash, a Connex inspector doing a routine field test found Sanchez's cell phone was turned on, which violates company and Metrolink rules against engineers using cell phones on duty, Pfiester said.

"It's been against the written rules of Metrolink for a long, long time. They busted him for it, but they didn't really do anything about it," the lawyer said.

Pfiester did not release the name of the employee, saying the person feared for his job, and did not provide documentation to back the allegations. But Pfiester said he believes the claims are credible because the person worked directly with Sanchez.

Pfiester said he intends to subpoena the person and obtain records from the company.

Metrolink Crash Attorney Jerome Ringler