As part of a class-action lawsuit against the Japanese auto manufacturer Toyota, lawyers for plaintiffs reveal in court documents that the company secretly purchased defective automobiles from owners with the condition they sign confidentiality agreements to keep secret the problem of unintended acceleration, reports The Detroit Free Press. The revelations come in more than 1,000 pages filed in a Santa Ana, California court where more than 200 lawsuits have been consolidated.
A tragic runaway Lexus crash that killed a California Highway Patrol officer and his family in August 2009 eventually led to the recall of more than 6 million Toyotas. The company said it needed to replace defective floor mats that could cause the accelerator pedal to stick. The Mark Saylor crash case was settled last month. However, auto safety experts believe that the car’s defective electronics are behind the runaway Toyotas, not the floor mat, which Toyota denies.
Attorneys representing the plaintiffs claim that Toyota was able to replicate the sudden acceleration problem but failed to notify federal auto safety officials, as required by law. The Transportation Department has already fined Toyota $16.4 million for a delay in reporting defective gas pedals to the government.
Product Liability Law
If a consumer is injured by a defective product, whether it is improperly designed, labeled, or made of shoddy materials, they can be compensated for their injury or illness. The liability can extend to the manufacturer, supplier, and retailer, or distributor of the product.
An experienced Florida product liability attorney can help you decide whether you should challenge a large company in an individual lawsuit, or join a class action, which makes it more likely you will be able to outlast a big corporation in litigation. In addition, the lawyers at Farah & Farah can conduct a thorough investigation into the chain of commerce to determine all potential defendants.
