If you own a recalled Toyota vehicle, you probably have many concerns right now. The number one concern is for the safety of you, your family and people on the roadways. We encourage all of our clients to contact their Toyota authorized dealership for service as soon as possible.
Currently, the recalled vehicles are:
Floor Mat Pedal Entrapment and/or Sticking Accelerator Pedal:
If you own one of these Toyota vehicles, another concern is what financial loss have you sustained because your vehicle has been recalled and is now declared unsafe to drive. Even once it's been taken back to the dealership and "fixed", the fact that it was one of the recalled vehicles will result in a decreased value.
We all know that once you purchase your new vehicle, it automatically looses value. That is to be expected. However, now the value has been affected by the manufacturer's failure to live up to their representations that the vehicles were safe. We also know that you would never buy a vehicle that you were aware was dangerous. So the question is what would someone pay today to buy your vehicle that has been declared unsafe?
We believe that an owner of a recalled Toyota has a claim against Toyota for economic recovery for the loss in value to the vehicle. This loss is referred to as "diminished value". In order to make a claim for diminished value, you can file a claim against Toyota. It is our understanding that multiple class actions have been filed seeking relief for owners of Toyota. While this may be good for some owners, we believe that filing individual cases for diminished value will result in a greater recovery than waiting years and years for the class actions to work their way through the court system.
If you or a loved one has been in an accident involving a Toyota vehicle, please give us a call as soon as possible so that the case can be investigated.
We intend to make immediate demands upon Toyota to pay claims for our clients. If you are interested in filing an individual claim against Toyota or have any questions, please let me know.
A Maryland family has filed a $10 million lawsuit against the Anne Arundel County Board of Education and the parents of a group of kids they say are responsible for their son's death. Christopher David Jones was killed in a gang-related dispute last May, and his parents claim that the Board of Education knew about the potential for violence and did nothing to protect their son. The lawsuit also names parents of five kids linked to the incident. Two of the boys were convicted of manslaughter as juveniles. The suit is seeks $200,000 from the board and $10 million from the parents. Nicole Fuller, Baltimore Sun 04/13/2010
Female Houston firefighter Jane Draycott filed a sexual harassment lawsuit against the city Tuesday, alleging years of incidents and retaliation. Draycott outlines more than 60 events in her lawsuit, including being passed over for extra hours and allegations of inappropriate advances by her male coworkers. The lawsuit is seeking unspecified damages. Bradley Olson and Terri Langford, Houston Chronicle 04/13/2010
A settlement has been reached in a wrongful death lawsuit filed against a Sunset Hills, Mo., police officer who allegedly caused a car wreck that killed four people. Officer Christine L. Miller and O'Leary's Restaurant & Bar have agreed to pay a total of $2.255 million to the families of those that died in a collision with Miller, who was intoxicated, last year. Police reports show that Miller's blood alcohol content was 0.169 three hours after the crash. She is currently awaiting trial on manslaughter charges. Heather Ratcliffe, St. Louis Post Dispatch 04/14/2010
A few weeks ago, New York U.S. District Court Judge Robert Sweet voided a patent that Myriad Genetics had on a gene that can be tested for various forms of cancer. The ruling stemmed from a lawsuit filed by a Massachusetts woman who had developed breast cancer and wished to have her BRCA gene tested for mutations, which would tell her if she was also at risk for ovarian cancer. Myriad owned the patent on that gene and therefore the test, and had refused to contract with her insurance provider. Judge Sweet ruled that since Myriad didn't invent or make the gene, they shouldn't be allowed to patent it. The patent had prevented other companies from developing cheaper, more readily available tests on the gene. Experts say that the ruling, if not overturned, could have lasting affects on genomic medicine. Elizabeth Weise, USA Today 04/13/2010
The federal government is denying any involvement in the suicide of an Indiana woman after the IRS raided her home in 2007. Her husband filed a wrongful death lawsuit earlier this year, blaming the suicide on the raid and the emotional distress it caused. James Simon was under IRS investigation in 2007 when armed IRS agents burst into his home on Nov. 7, the lawsuit claims. He was not home at the time, but his wife Denise was. A few days later, she committed suicide. In a note she left, she stated that she and her husband had never engaged in any of the practices they were being investigated for and that "with my dying breath I swear Jim and I are innocent." Rebecca S. Green, Fort Wayne Journal-Gazette 04/14/2010
Jurors on Tuesday found the Boys Scouts of America negligent and awarded $1.4 million to a former Portland man who was abused by an assistant Scoutmaster in the early 1980s, following a three-week trial in which secret Scout "perversion files" were used as evidence. The jury also decided the Irving, Texas-based Scouts organization was liable for punitive damages that will be decided in a separate phase of the trial. That would be in addition to the $1.4 million. Associated Press, CBSNews.com 04/14/2010
Despite a renewed focus on prevention and threats of governmental sanctions, hospitals continue to see increased rates of post-operative bloodstream infections and catheter-associated urinary tract infections, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality reported. The rates increased by 8 percent for bloodstream infections and 4 percent for urinary tract infections over the year before. Kevin Sack, The New York Times 04/14/2010
A sampling of results of blood and urine tests on residents of Dish, TX suggest that their bodies contain some of the same toxic chemicals found in the small Denton County community's air and water, a Louisiana chemist says. Among the findings were one resident who had 0.013 micrograms of trichloroethylene per liter of blood, which is just above the national benchmark of less than 0.012, she said. Trichloroethylene, also known as TCE, is a cleaning solvent that can damage the human nervous system at high levels. Furthermore, urine test results for all five people revealed metabolites for 1, 3 Butadiene, Toluene and N,N-Dimethylformamide. All three chemicals, as well as TCE, were found in air samples taken in Dish, Subra said. ALEX BRANCH and AMAN BATHEJA, Fort Worth Star-Telegram 04/14/2010
