Toyota Lawsuits May Include Economic Losses

Thursday, August 2, 2012

Toyota Lawsuits May Include Economic Losses

Written by Malman Law, reviewed by Steve J. Malman.

According to a ruling by a California judge earlier this year, Toyota may have even more lawsuits on their hands. Chicago personal injury attorneys and lawyers across the country have already filed multiple personal injury and wrongful death lawsuits against the car manufacturer in the wake of a series of recalls. U.S. District Judge James Selna (Santa Ana, CA) affirmed his tentative order last month allowing the cases to move forward.

Chicago personal injury attorneys are already well into the litigation process with the motorcorp, but now it appears that another type of lawsuit may name Toyota – economic loss suits.

The basis of an economic loss suit would be that “plaintiffs argue that they have suffered economic losses because Toyota failed to disclose or repair problems that caused their cars to surge forward unexpectedly,” according to the Chicago Tribune.

In the judge’s ruling, he wrote “Taking these allegations as true, as the Court must at the pleading stage, they establish an economic loss. Plaintiffs bargained for safe, defect-free vehicles, but instead received unsafe, defective vehicles. A vehicle with a defect is worth less than one without a defect.”

Additionally, even consumers who did not attempt to sell their cars may be able to file economic loss suits on the grounds that they initially overpaid for vehicles that were defective. Obviously a car that does not work properly is not worth the same amount as one that does; these Toyotas were represented as working properly at the time of the sale.

A spokesperson for Toyota released the following statement: “Toyota is confident that no defect exists in its electronic throttle control system. The burden is now squarely on plaintiffs’ counsel to prove their allegations, and Toyota is confident that no such proof exists.”

According to the Trib, “California consumer laws are considered more favorable to plaintiffs than laws in many other states. Toyota asked the judge to rule that California law does not apply to suits brought in other states.”

While the ruling only applies to California at this time, Chicago personal injury attorneys and lawyers in other areas who have filed lawsuits against Toyota will certainly be taking notice. It is possible that economic loss law suits may be filed in addition to the already pending wrongful death, personal injury and other types of lawsuits agains Toyota.

Our Chicago personal injury attorneys would like to remind you to contact a qualified legal professional if you are concerned about personal injury, wrongful death, or any other consequences resulting from a defective product.