Toyota Sudden-Acceleration Suit Scheduled for Trial in March
Lawyers suing Toyota Motor Corp. in sudden-acceleration lawsuits coordinated in California said the carmaker didn’t disclose that a related case was scheduled for trial next month in a federal court in New York.
“This situation seriously undermines the policy goals underlying the coordination of these actions in the present” multidistrict litigation, lawyers for plaintiffs in the coordinated cases said in a filing yesterday in federal court in Santa Ana, California. “Toyota never sought to have this action coordinated with the MDL.”
U.S. District Judge James Selna, who is overseeing the coordinated cases, set a hearing for tomorrow on whether the New York case should be transferred to Santa Ana. The lawyers also seek an order that Toyota disclose any related federal court cases that aren’t already part of the multidistrict litigation.
Toyota said today in a statement that the allegations by the plaintiffs’ lawyers are inaccurate and irresponsible. The company, based in Toyota City, Japan, said it listed the case in Central Islip, New York, in its first status report in the consolidated cases last April.
The federal lawsuits against Toyota alleging economic loss, wrongful death or personal injury from sudden unintended acceleration were consolidated before Selna in April. The judge said last month that he wanted the initial bellwether case to go to trial in the first three months of 2013.
Toyota, the world’s largest automaker, recalled millions of U.S. vehicles last year and in 2009, most for defects related to unintended acceleration. It paid a record $48.8 million in fines for how some of the recalls were conducted. The carmaker said today that it’s recalling another 2.17 million vehicles in the U.S. for carpet and floor-mat flaws that could jam gas pedals.
‘Violent Collision’
The New York case was brought in July of 2008 by Amir Sitafalwalla, who claimed he was seriously injured when the 2005 Scion TC he was driving “without warning accelerated resulting in a violent collision.”
The case predates the August 2009 crash near San Diego in which four people, including the off-duty California Highway Patrol officer who was driving, died when a Lexus sped out of control. Toyota, which has said a sheriff’s investigation found the crash was caused by an incompatible floor mat incorrectly installed by the dealer, recalled 3.8 million vehicles the following month to fix problems with floor mats that could jam accelerator pedals.
Jury Selection
Jury selection in the New York case is scheduled to start March 28. The lawyers representing Toyota in that lawsuit have objected to moving the case to the multidistrict proceedings in Santa Ana or to delay the start of the trial, the plaintiffs’ lawyers said in their filing yesterday.
“The Sitafalwalla case has never been appropriate for transfer to the MDL,” Toyota said in its statement. “In fact, the judge before whom the case is pending has already rejected a request to postpone it because of the federal MDL.”
Toyota lawyers said in a separate court filing today in Santa Ana that the Sitafalwalla case isn’t appropriate for inclusion in the consolidated proceedings because it’s in a far more advanced stage than the cases before Selna.
The New York case is Sitafalwalla v. Toyota Motor Sales, 08-03001, U.S. District Court, Eastern District of New York (Central Islip).
The coordinated cases are In re Toyota Motor Corp. Unintended Acceleration Marketing, Sales Practices and Products Liability Litigation, 8:10-ml-02151, U.S. District Court, Central District of California (Santa Ana).
To contact the reporter on this story: Edvard Pettersson in Los Angeles at epettersson@bloomberg.net.
To contact the editor responsible for this story: John Pickering at jpickering@bloomberg.net.
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