Doe v. General Motors Corporation

Design Defect - Breach of Warranty (Products Liability)
Carmaker settles suit over alleged seatback failure

CASE
Doe v. General Motors Corporation, No. GN100580

MEDIATION CONFIDENTIAL

CASE COURT
Travis County District Court, 345th, TX

JUDGE
Hon. Scott McCown

DATE
06/08/2001

PLAINTIFF ATTORNEY(S)
Robert E. Ammons, Stevenson & Ammons, Houston, TX (Doe)

DEFENSE ATTORNEY(S)
Kyle H. Dreyer, Hartline, Dacus, Dreyer & Kern, Dallas, TX (General Motors Corporation)
Vincent Galvin, Bowman & Brooke, (General Motors Corporation)
Wendy D. May, Hartline, Dacus, Dreyer & Kern, Dallas, TX (General Motors Corporation)

Facts & Allegations

Doe was driving his Saturn on March 2, 2000. The car was designed, manufactured and marketed by General Motors Corp. On that date, his vehicle was struck by a Pontiac Bonneville. The Saturn's seatback allegedly failed, resulting in severe injuries.

Doe alleged that the vehicle was unreasonably and dangerously defective and that it was unsafe for its intended purpose in that its seatback, its seatback recliner or both were prone to failure and did fail during the collision. The Saturn, therefore, did not offer proper injury protection to Doe in the collision and proved to be uncrashworthy, the plaintiff alleged.

Photographs of the vehicle immediately following the accident allegedly clearly reflected the failure of the seatback. Moreover, the plaintiff alleged that the marketing and sale of this Saturn were done knowingly and with an actual awareness of the tendency of the seatback recliner to fail under circumstances similar to this accident's. Moreover, according to the plaintiff, GM had notice of the hazard posed by rearward yielding seatbacks prior to this incident, as allegedly evidenced by a recall on similarly equipped earlier-model Saturns and testimony of Andrew Levitt, an expert witness retained by auto manufacturers in another case.

Defense counsel representative, Barbara Frischholz, reported that the seat performed exactly as expected, "in terms of rearward rotation in a violent rear-end collision." "[T]he right rear wheel was pushed up into the wheel well, intruding with 38-1/2 inches of crush into the right rear occupant compartment." She added large wooden crate behind the driver's seat limited the rearward movement of the seatback to about 45 degrees, and that the 1999 Saturn was not subject to a recall.

INJURIES/DAMAGES

Doe sustained a broken neck anda closed-head injury. In addition, he suffered fractured vertebrae at C5-C6. The spinal injury required an anterior and posterior fusion with bone removal from his hip. The closed-head injury resulted in cognitive deficits, depression and behavioral changes. He sought past medical expenses of $93,000 and future medical expenses of $262,000. He alleged that his injuries would in reasonable probability prevent any future return to the workplace, and he sought $760,000 for past and future lost earnings and household services.

RESULT

The case was settled for a confidential amount in mediation on June 8. The mediator was retired judge Thomas.