Toyota to Face Class Action
District Judge James Selna of Santa Ana, CA made the tentative ruling from Nov 19, final allowing class action suits against Toyota to continue. Toyota and its attorneys tried to have the cases dismissed stating the plaintiffs failed to precisely plead specific losses or identify an actual defect. Judge Selna stated,
“It is true that plaintiffs do not generally allege the precise dollar value of their losses, but that level of specificity is not required at the pleadings state,” Selna said in yesterday’s ruling. “The court is convinced that a safety consideration as fundamental as whether a car is able to stop when the brakes are applied is material to consumers.”
Selna rejected Toyota’s request to dismiss a claim that the company knew of a defect in the vehicles’ electronic throttle- control system and concealed it from consumers.‘Sufficiently Alleged’
“Plaintiffs have sufficiently alleged that Toyota had exclusive knowledge of material facts not known to plaintiffs and actively concealed those facts,” Selna wrote. (More)
If you have suffered a personal injury from a product defect please contact the Law Office of D. Hardison Wood at 919.233.0520.
