Toyota Recall: Lawsuits for Total Value of Car, Fraud, & Racketeering Loom
Toyota recall, Toyota recall lawyers
March 15th, 2010: Law Blogger
Toyota is certainly feeling the PR impact of what we are now just learning that they brought on themselves, but perhaps they aren’t feeling it as much as their customers are. A Seattle couple has just brought a federal lawsuit against Toyota for the whole value of their car. They want a full refund…and if they get it that could cause a domino effect that could cripple the Japanese car maker.
The lawsuit alleges that the sudden acceleration, braking, and other serious issues that prompted the Toyota recall violate Washington state’s Consumer Protection Act and amount to a breach of contract. The lawsuit is a proposed class action, and if certified by a federal judge could apply to other Toyota owners in Washington with similar issues.
That means that more than 100 other Washingtonians can jump into the suit allowing the potential value of the suit to exceed $5 million in damages.
This is of course only one of many lawsuits around the nation alleging everything from personal injury to loss of value due to news of the recall.
The Seattle Lawsuit against Toyota
Court documents allege that Dana and Douglas Eller, Normandy Park, bought a 2009 RAV4 in September just a few months prior to the recall. A short time later they received a recall notice in the mail asking them to take the car in to the dealership. They did as it said and took it in for repairs.
“However, based on news reports, plaintiffs do not believe that Toyota knows what is causing acceleration. Plaintiffs tried to sell the car and were told its value is 20 percent less than what it was worth less than six months ago,” the lawsuit alleges.
The lawsuit was filed by Seattle lawyer Steve Berman, references many stories in the news saying that Toyotas have lost value as a result of the acceleration issues. The lawsuit alleges that those stories reflects a real loss of value for used Toyotas.
“Parents have told me that they cannot take the chance of putting their children in their Toyota, no matter how much the company touts the effectiveness of the recall fixes,” Berman told King 5 News. “When we talked with Toyota owners, they all voiced the same desire – to drive the car back to the lot, hand (Toyota) the keys and pick up a check.”
New Charges of Fraud and Racketeering
The Eller’s refund lawsuit comes days before a panel of federal judges will hold hearings in San Diego on whether they want to consolidate more than 110 potential Toyota class-action cases before a single judge.
The single judge would decide whether the cases can be combined into a single “class” of affected Toyota owners and whether the case should proceed to trial. New cases with similar or identical allegations would fall under that class and thus under that judge.
The day for Toyota just gets worse. A collaboration of attorneys filing Toyota cases nationwide who call themselves the Attorneys Toyota Action Consortium (ATAC) announced today they are adding racketeering claims to many of their lawsuits.
“Toyota has known of accelerator problems since at least 2000 and engaged in a conspiracy to hide the truth from consumers.” Said Tim Howard, the Northeastern University law professor coordinating the ATAC effort. He went on to say, “It’s become increasingly apparent that Toyota profits were not built on quality products, but on a willful pattern of deception, fraud and racketeering.”
If fraud claims are deemed to apply under the federal Racketeering Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) law then it could push total Toyota class-action damages above $10 billion, Howard told the Associated Press.
This isn’t the first claim of fraud and deception made against Toyota. There is one filed in California in July 2009 by a former Toyota employee still being tried. New lawsuits are based in part on documents obtained by reporters and the congressional committees investigating and holding hearings on the company’s recalls.
Toyota Fights to the Bitter End
Toyota is running commercial after commercial begging to customers to come in and buy cars that are still part of the recall and contain problems that they haven’t properly diagnosed. Toyota insists that the acceleration problems are caused by the floor mats and the accelerator cranks. One problem is of course the cheapest and easiest thing to fix and the other they can defray blame on parts manufacturers. Regardless, independent research shows a software problem, perhaps the most expensive to thing to fix.
Customers are complaining of serious problems with their Toyotas even after they’ve taken them into the dealership for their recall repairs.
One of the largest stories was of James Sikes, the California real estate agent whose Toyota Prius suddenly accelerated one afternoon and had to be assisted in stopping by a police officer after a harrowing 30 mile race along the highway. Toyota is essentially saying that he is lying. Which is sort of like the pot…well, calling the kettle a liar.
Toyota Lawsuits
When it comes down to it, things for Toyota get worse and worse and at some point there isn’t an ad they’ll be able to run that will save them from the fact that they knew about the acceleration problems and they are still selling the cars without fixing them. By selling defective products they are hedging their bets that they’ll make 2 million in profit for every 1 million that they have to pay out to settle wrongful death lawsuits.
If you or a loved one have been affected by the Toyota recall it is imperative that you find legal council experienced in defective product litigation. Call Phillips Webster for a consultation on your legal rights.
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