Posts Tagged ‘ Ford ’

Week Adjourned: 6.25.11

June 27th, 2011. By LucyC

Top Class Actions

The Tailgate Crack’d? Tailgates aren’t the only thing showing cracks at Ford, it seems. Ford’s in hot water this week as it finds itself facing a consumer fraud class action. The Ford lawsuit, filed Northern District of California, seeks to represent anyone in the country who purchased certain makes and models of SUVs that have experienced damage, as in “a large crack to the tailgate of the vehicle.”

Well, that would be a little hard to miss. Apparently, or at least according to the lawsuit, Ford “knowingly and fraudulently concealed the cracked tailgate issue in connection with its sale and delivery of model 2002 through model 2005 Ford Explorers and Mercury Mountaineers, and model 2003 through model 2005 Lincoln Aviators.”

Indeed? Indeed. Indeed, according to the cracked tailgate lawsuit, although Ford knew about the problem in early-2002, the company continued to sell the affected vehicles and systematically refused to repair or replace the damaged tailgates both inside and outside of the warranty period. Umm. That could be a real pain.

So, the lawsuit alleges that Ford continued sale and delivery of these vehicles and thereby violated the various consumer protection laws of the United States and that Ford’s actions also constitute common law fraud, breach of express warranty, and unjust enrichment.

The Complaint also alleges that Ford made material misrepresentations and concealed material information regarding the design defect that caused the cracked tailgate issue. Moreover, Ford intentionally misled the public so they could continue to sell the affected Ford vehicles and avoid the expense of repair or redesign of the cracked tailgates. Go all that? Not very good for business. Not good at all, actually, if the allegations prove true.

Top Settlements

Award puts Focus on the Suffering Silent. Every once in a while a story like this makes the news and it’s sad because it takes this kind of distress before attention is paid, it seems. Recently, an elderly nursing home resident was awarded a $4.4 million settlement in a negligence lawsuit.

The short version is that in 2009, 79-year old Samuel Nevarrez was admitted to San Marino Skilled Nursing and Wellness Centre for rehabilitation after he had fallen at home several times. He stayed at the nursing home for six weeks and during that time he fell a further nine times, which, he claimed in his lawsuit, caused him to suffer a subdural hematoma and a subsequent stroke. That’s a lot of falling.

Nevarrez later returned to the facility where he suffered a further two falls and following the last fall he was placed in hospice. Nevarrez sued the nursing home and its management company, the Country Villa Service Corp, claiming that the staff at the facility did not prevent his falls. The jury hearing the elder care lawsuit found the nursing home 40 percent at fault and Nevarrez 20 percent comparatively negligent.

Medical Negligence Award puts Elder Care in Focus…Again. And while we’re on the topic, the family of an 88-year old woman who underwent treatment for a Stage IV sacral pressure sore which the family allege was negligently performed and led to their mother’s death, were recently awarded $315,000 in their medical negligence lawsuit.

It’s a very sad case. According to reports on the case, the surgery was done through Vohra Health Services, a wound care company that treated residents at the , where the woman was resident. The woman’s daughter alleged in her lawsuit, that the doctor involved negligently performed a surgical debridement because he didn’t remove all the necrotic tissue from the wound. The daughter also claimed that the surgery and post-operative care from the nurse involved led to her mother’s death. Interestingly, the counsel for the defense also blamed Miami Gardens for the worsening of the woman’s bed sore. So the woman’s family won their case.

OK. That’s it for this week. See you at the Bar.

Tags: Elder Care Lawsuit, Ford, Ford Tailgate Lawsuit, Medical Negligence Lawsuit, Miami Gardens Care Center, San Marino Skilled Nursing and Wellness Centre, Suffering Silent, Vohra Health Services
Posted in Week Adjourned | 8144No Comments »Week+Adjourned%3A+6.25.112011-06-27+13%3A52%3A50LucyC

Week Adjourned: 5.22.10

May 22nd, 2010. By LucyC

Top Class Actions

Seems there’s no end of trouble in sight for the beleaguered auto industry…

“We’re Leading by Example”? What’s that line about not throwing stones if you live in a glass house? Perhaps Ford ought to rethink using that headline as this week the company got hit with a class action lawsuit stemming from consumer complaints about alleged ‘defective’ rear axles on its Windstar model 1999-2003 minivans.

Apparently, the rear axles in question are unsealed hollow cylinders that basically collect water and ‘corrosive agents’ and, you guessed it, over time can corrode and crack, or even split into pieces. Um. That sounds like a quality product…not.

In fact it sounds quiet dangerous—and it is, because the axles are susceptible to failing while the minivan is being operated. Nice.

The law firm that filed the potential class action suspects that “more than 949,000 Windstars were manufactured with a defective axle.” That’s a lot of minivans—and a lot of families…

Top Settlements

The Week the Women Won…5,600 women that is, who filed a gender discrimination class action against their employer, Novartis Pharmaceuticals. Bloomberg reported it as the largest ever employment discrimination verdict—according to their data.

The payoff? $250 million in punitive damages and roughly $3.36 million in compensatory damages for each of the 12 women who are named plaintiffs and who took the stand in the case. Incidentally—the case was filed in 2004—so that’s six years of living the legal wars and all the rest.

Some of the stuff that came out in the courtroom was quite worrying. Here’s a clip from an official press release on the verdict—you be the judge—” On the first day of the trial in the defense’s opening Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: Asbestos, Asbestos Mesothelioma, Defective Axle, Discrimination, Ford, Ford Windstar, Novartis
Posted in Week Adjourned | 3696No Comments »Week+Adjourned%3A+5.22.102010-05-22+12%3A57%3A06LucyC

Biggest News from Detroit Car Show: Driving’s Become a Distraction

January 15th, 2010. By Hunter West

Driver's Ed 2015? "There's your Aplusk Twitter alert!"

Get ready for a new round of lawsuits everybody. Because the nation’s roadways are about to become a lot more dangerous.

Consider this statement from an automotive industry engineer:

“Customers are expecting more and more, especially business people who expect to find in the car what they find in their smart phone,” said Mathias Halliger, the chief engineer for Audi’s multimedia interface systems, in comments published in the New York Times last week. “We should give them the same or a better experience.”

Experience?

Really…

Ford SYNC multimedia system

Let’s get one thing straight. Driving is not a video game. Driving is not a virtual ‘experience’. Driving is being in control of a hurtling goliath of metal weighing several tons hurtling down a road shared by other vehicles, or pedestrians hurrying across an intersection. Kids on bikes. Old men with their walkers.

It’s bad enough that car stereos are more complex, now that you can plug your iPod or mp3 player into the system. Now there are GPS systems that serve to distract drivers even further from the task at hand—which is driving safely.

Many states and cities have banned talking on a cell phone unless a Bluetooth or other hands-free device is used. Texting while driving is so stupid; its stupidity is a foregone conclusion. That’s been banned too, in many areas across the country. As the bans step up, safety advocates have been breathing a sigh of relief.

Well for them—and for the rest of us—this horror movie has just become a whole lot scarier, with automotive Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: Audi, Auto Accidents, Car Accidents, Car Crash, Ford
Posted in Accidents, Defective Products | 24312 Comments »2010-01-15+17%3A53%3A29Hunter+West