Areas of Practice

Product Liability Cases and Settlements

MARONEY V. TAURUS INTERNATIONAL MANUFACTURING, INC.

Verdict of $1,250,000 (Etowah County Circuit Court, 2009). The lawsuit involved the unintended discharge of a PT111 9mm Millennium Taurus handgun. Maroney, a 28 year old Boaz man, who owns a business in the Sardis area of Etowah County, was leaving home for work when the handgun unintentionally fell to the floor in his garage. The Taurus 9mm was in a holster with the safety in the “on” position when it struck the ground and discharged, severely injuring the Plaintiff. When the handgun discharged, the bullet fired up through the young man’s abdomen, impacting his pancreas, spleen, and diaphragm, creating two holes in his left lung. Ultimately, Mr. Maroney was hospitalized for over a week, was forced to have his spleen removed and endured a great deal of harm and injuries as a result of this incident.

The Plaintiff’s contention was that the safety mechanism on the PT111 9mm Millennium Taurus handgun failed to prevent a “drop fire.” An internal safety device known as a striker block safety was defective and failed to prevent the striker (firing pin) from impacting the bullet and causing the gun to discharge, when subjected to a sharp impact such as a drop. The jury found that this defect in the PT111 9mm Millennium Taurus handgun caused the Plaintiff’s injuries. Representatives of Taurus International Manufacturing, Inc. admitted that there are more than 100,000 of these handguns on the market in the U.S. currently.

Anonymous v. Anonymous

Settlement of $9,000,000.00 (Cullman County Circuit Court, 2009). An RV was traveling on I-65 towing a pick-up truck. The pick-up truck separated from the RV, traveled off the road and hit a truck parked off the road which then impacted an innocent bystander who was standing off the road. This impact resulted in the amputation of both of the bystander’s legs.

Anonymous v. Anonymous Automobile Manufacturer

Confidential settlement (2009). A wrongful death, crashworthiness case against an automobile manufacturer.

Anonymous v. Car Manufacturer

Settlement of $1,000,000 (Calhoun County, 2007). This was a wrongful death product defect case wherein the driver of the vehicle was partially ejected in a rollover due to a defective door latch design which caused the door to open when the roof of the vehicle hit the ground. The driver died from being partially ejected.

Mohr v. Daimler Chrysler Corporation

Verdict of $58,278,000 (Shelby County, Tennessee, 2005, CV: No. 03-2433). A jury in Shelby County, Tennessee awarded the family of Gilbert Mohr $58,278,000 as a result of the wrongful death of Gilbert’s wife, Vickie, and his mother-in-law, Maurine Heathscott.

Vickie and Maurine were killed July 5, 2002, when their 2000 Dodge Caravan failed to protect them in an accident caused by a Jeep Cherokee. Suit was brought against Daimler Chrysler alleging that the 1996 through 2000 Dodge minivans were defective and unreasonably dangerous. One defect is that these Dodge vans have an inadequate structural design which fails to properly protect occupants in certain types of frontal crashes. Another defect is that the seatbelt buckles are prone to be inadvertently contacted and released.

The seatbelts, known as GEN-III, were the subject of an investigative report done by ABC News. The report on ABC Primetime demonstrated that the GEN-III buckle failed an industry standard known as the “ball test.” Scientists hired by ABC’s Primetime testified for plaintiffs at the trial in Tennessee. The jury found Maurine Heathscott was belted prior to the crash, but inadvertently contacted her buckle which released the belt and allowed Maurine to suffer a fatal blow to her head. Compensatory damages of $2 million were awarded to the estate of Maurine Heathscott.

The jury awarded compensatory damages of $7.5 million to the driver, Vickie Mohr. Vickie was crushed to death when the safety cage, or occupant cage, collapsed during the offset frontal collision. Through discovery it was revealed that Chrysler rushed to put the 1996 – 2000 minivans on the market in approximately half the normal time it takes to design and develop a vehicle. It was further revealed that Chrysler struggled to meet the minimum Federal standards for crashworthiness and occupant protection. Testimony and documents demonstrated that Chrysler took drastic measures to get their vehicle certified. Chrysler intentionally weakened the occupant compartment space which created an unreasonable risk of injury or death to occupants in an offset frontal collision.

The jury found Chrysler’s actions to be intentional or reckless. The punitive damage verdict against Chrysler was for $48,778,000. The total verdict is believed to be one of the largest ever in the history of Shelby County, Tennessee. It received media coverage from The Detroit News, Bloomberg News, The St. Louis Courier and The Birmingham News.

ANONYMOUS V. CAR MANUFACTURER

Settlement of $3,000,000 (Etowah County, 2005). Wrongful death product defect case wherein the driver of a vehicle was killed due to the roof collapsing during a rollover.

Ken Rainey as Administrator of the estate of Linda Rainey v. Anonymous motorcycle retail sales and repair store and helmet manufacturer

Settlement of $1,075,000 (Talladega County, 2005). Mr and Mrs. Rainey were riding their motorcycle when the back tire lost air causing them to wreck resulting in the death of Mrs. Rainey. This was a wrongful death action brought against the helmet manufacturer for a defective helmet and against the motorcycle sales and repair store for improperly mounting the back tire and rim prior to the wreck.

Jim Hardy v. API Outdoors and Larry’s General Merchandise

Settlement of $6,700,000 (Circuit Court of Tallapoosa County, 2003). Plaintiff, while deer hunting, was rendered a paraplegic when his tree stand fell approximately twenty feet. Plaintiff claimed that the fall occurred because a metal pin failed, disconnecting an encircling chain from around the tree to which the stand was attached, and that the tree stand’s foot strap failed. Plaintiff purchased the tree stand which was manufactured by API from Larry’s General Merchandise. An investigation revealed that a number of items were missing from the tree stand sold to the plaintiff including warnings, instructions, and a safety video, all of which the plaintiff claimed contributed to the fall.

CONFIDENTIAL SETTLEMENT

Settlement of $1,600,000 (Circuit Court of Etowah County). Settlement in which the cause of a deadly house fire was partly attributed to faulty equipment selected and installed by one defendant and partly attributed to defective fire safety equipment designed and manufactured by another defendant.

Confidential Settlement

Settlement of $1,475,000 (Colbert County, 2003). Plaintiff’s daughter suffered severe brain injuries in a car accident and will be in a permanent vegetative state requiring complete and total care for the rest of her life. Plaintiff brought products liability claims as well as other warranty theories in regards to the crashworthiness of the vehicle. Plaintiff’s case was complicated by the facts that the daughter was not wearing her seatbelt, that both vehicles were traveling at high speed, and that the daughter’s vehicle had been sold for salvage.

Anonymous Plaintiffs v. Anonymous Tire Manufacturer and Anonymous Automobile Manufacturer

Total settlement of $16,000,000 (Etowah County Circuit Court, 2002). Plaintiffs were members of a church near Gadsden, Alabama who were traveling to a retreat in Florida when their van overturned due to design defects in tires as well as with the van.

BONNIE CLEMENTS V. ANONYMOUS BATTERY CHARGER MANUFACTURER

Settlement of $350,000 (Circuit Court of Blount County). Plaintiff was the widow of a man who was electrocuted while attempting to charge his daughter’s automobile battery. Claim was also made against anonymous automobile manufacturer.

TIM SHANKLE, ET AL V. CONFIDENTIAL DEFENDANT

Settlement of $2,750,000 (Lawrence County, 2000). Product liability case where Tim Shankle, his wife Lisa Sweitzer, and their son Joshua alleged that a control valve malfunctioned, causing their propane heater to explode – resulting in third-degree burns to Tim and Lisa, and second-degree burns to Joshua. The Shankles were sleeping in their home at the time of the explosion.

John Richardson v. Anonymous Tire Company

Settlement of $6,200,000 (Circuit Court of Tallapoosa County, 2001). Wrongful death case brought by an Alabama family pursuant to South Carolina law because the accident occurred in Greenville, South Carolina. The Richardson family was traveling from Alabama to North Carolina for a family wedding when the tread separated, causing the SUV to overturn, killing one family member and injuring three others. Suite was also brought against the anonymous automobile manufacturer which designed and manufactured the SUV involved in the accident. Also, a claim was brought against an automobile dealer whose body shop had checked the vehicle shortly before the trip.

L. B. Ballard v. Mahindra Tractor Co.

Settlement of $861,500 (Circuit Court of Tallapoosa County, 1999). This case was a product liability claim against a tractor company headquartered in Bombay, India and a dealership located in Talladega, Alabama. The claims against the defendants were based on a design defect in the tractor’s transmission system leading to a run-over accident where in the plaintiff suffered crush injuries to his chest.

Clements v. Case, Inc.

Settlement of $1,178,000 (Chambers County, 1997). Product liability death case against the manufacturer of a backhoe that jumped out of gear and ran over a nearby worker. Deceased was an 18-year old college student.

George H. Walker v. Shaver Manufacturing Co.

Settlement of $882,500 (Tallapoosa County, 1997). A personal injury case arising from a product liability claim against the manufacturer of an auger. The operator was injured when his coat sleeve caught in the auger, amputating his hand.

Elise Williams as administratrix for the Estate of Ricky Williams v. Isuzu

Settlement of $650,000 (U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Alabama, 1995). This was a product liability (crash worthiness) case for the wrongful death of Ricky Williams.

Melvin Williams as conservator for Ronald Williams v. Ford

Settlement of $750,000 (Tallapoosa County, 1993). Product liability (a crashworthiness case).