The U.S. Transportation Department announced Monday night, Dec. 20, that Toyota will pay an additional $32 million in penalties related to its recent automobile recalls. The fines are the result of two recent federal investigations into how Toyota handled the recent recalls, which involved millions of vehicles in the United States and abroad, for issues of sudden unintended acceleration and brake defects. The latest fines are the steepest allowed by law, and are in addition to a $16.375 million fine Toyota paid in April.
The Herald.net, an online publication serving Everett, Washington, reported recently that the Tesoro Petroleum Company faces a record fine for violations of state safety rules. The judgment by the state Department of Labor & Industries comes after an explosion at the company's petroleum refinery that killed seven workers. According the the L&I, the explosion and tragic loss could have been prevented if Tesoro had followed required safety procedures.
As plaintiffs' lawyers prepare to file their consolidated class action on behalf of Toyota consumers, they face an obstacle that has prevented similar claims from advancing in the past: Class members didn't actually suffer physical injuries. The class members assert that they suffered economic injuries because their vehicles declined in value following recalls tied to sudden acceleration problems. Courts have rejected similar argument in class actions brought under products liability laws, according to plaintiffs' lawyers who spoke during a March conference on the Toyota litigation.
Toyota Motor Corp.'s legal problems aren't limited to the federal multidistrict litigation over unintended acceleration of its vehicles. Scores of lawsuits are working their way through state courts across the nation, and some of those cases could pave the road for the MDL.
The first hearing in the MDL won't take place until later this month, but some lawyers with cases pending in various state courts already have begun deposing Toyota executives.
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, an Associated Press investigation shows.
In a review of lawsuits filed around the country involving a wide range of complaints — not just the sudden acceleration problems that have led to millions of Toyotas being recalled — 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.
Toyota now has two weeks to decide if it will accept or contest the $16.4 million fine levied yesterday by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to resolve Timeliness Query 10-002, regarding its sticky accelerator recall.
WASHINGTON (AP) - The Transportation Department said Monday that it would seek the maximum penalty, more than $16 million, against Toyota for failing to promptly notify the government about defective gas pedals among its vehicles.
Birmingham is now the site of an investigation into a fatal wreck involving a Toyota Camry. Attorneys are suing the automaker over an accident that killed one elderly woman and seriously injured another. "There's a problem out there and these cars are killing people," said attorney Cole Portis.
A Montgomery jury has ordered Ford Motor Co. to pay $2.75 million to the estate of a woman who was killed July 2007 when her 1999 Ford Explorer rolled over during a crash. The jury returned the judgment Friday after several hours of deliberation.
Toyota customer complaints were ignored, documents suggest and victims' families will attest by attending the congressional hearing with Toyota executives. Beasley Allen's Graham Esdale represents this family.
