Personal Injury Law

Misconduct In Product Liability Litigation-- Hiding Information

Our Atlanta Product Liability attorneys frequently discover that large corporations routinely hide documents and information which they are required by law to disclose to opposing parties in lawsuits. Unfortunately this illegal and unethical practice has been embraced by many large corporations and their defense attorneys as a justifiable practice.

A recent study by the AP of the litigation practices of Toyota gives an insight into this practice.

According to the study, Toyota has routinely engaged in questionable, evasive and deceptive legal tactics when sued, frequently claiming it does not have information it is required to turn over and sometimes even ignoring court orders to produce key documents.

The AP review of lawsuits filed around the country involving a wide range of complaints revealed the automaker has hidden the existence of tests that would be harmful to its legal position and claimed key material was difficult to get at its headquarters in Japan. It has withheld potentially damaging documents and refused to release data stored electronically in its vehicles.

The AP cited as an example a Colorado product liability lawsuit filed by a man whose young daughter was killed in a 4Runner rollover crash. Toyota withheld documents about internal roof strength tests despite a federal judge's order that such information be produced, according to court records. The attorneys representing the plaintiff in that case believe the verdict in favor of Toyota would have been different had they been provided the information to present to the jury.

A new federal lawsuit has been filed accusing Toyota of fraud in the earlier case.

In another case reported by the AP, a Texas woman was killed when her Toyota Land Cruiser lurched backward and pinned her against a garage wall. Toyota told lawyers for the woman's family it was unaware of any similar cases. Yet less than a year earlier, Toyota had settled a nearly identical lawsuit in the same state involving a Baptist minister who was severely injured after he said his Land Cruiser abruptly rolled backward over him. Under court discovery rules, Toyota had an obligation to inform the woman's attorneys about the case when formally asked.

The AP reviewed numerous cases around the country in which Toyota's actions were evasive, and sometimes even deceptive, in providing answers to questions posed by plaintiffs. Court rules generally allow a person or company who is sued to object to turning over requested information; it's permitted and even expected that defense attorneys play hardball, but it's a violation to claim evidence does not exist when it does.

How Toyota handled past lawsuits could indicate how it will deal with more than 130 potential class-action lawsuits filed by owners who claim the recent recalls have triggered a sharp loss in their vehicles' value. Separately, Toyota faces nearly 100 federal wrongful death and injury lawsuits by victims who blame their crashes on sudden acceleration.

Additional related lawsuits examined in the AP review found:

Toyota hid the existence of its roof strength tests in numerous cases. A new potential class-action lawsuit filed in California on behalf of two women left paralyzed by separate Toyota rollover crashes contends that recently uncovered company documents contradict sworn testimony by Toyota officials that the company had no written standard for how far vehicle roofs could be crushed. The long-hidden documents indicate Toyota did have such a standard: roofs could come no closer than a half-millimeter from test dummies' heads in a rollover crash.

Toyota claimed in court documents that a 2000 Camry had "no component" to record its speed at the time of a crash. A Texas woman suing the automaker asserted she was injured when the air bag failed to deploy. The case went to trial last September and ended with a jury ruling in Toyota's favor. Attorneys for the woman later found documents showing the Camry did record such information and that Toyota had the ability to download it from vehicles as early as 1997.

Unfortunately these illegal tactics will continue until the courts around the country take definitive action to prevent them. Companies and lawyers caught in this conduct must be disciplined to an extent that will deter this conduct in the future.

Full post as published by Georgia Injury Lawyer Blog on April 14, 2010 (boomark / email).