In the News
Archived News Stories
TOYOTA RECALL
What Should You Do?
TM
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:
Also added to the recall to update Anti-Lock Brakes (ABS) Software:
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.
Sincerely,
Jeff
Jeff Weinstein
1-800-LONGHORN
(1-800-566-4467)
Jeff@LonghornLawyer.com
Laws/Cases
|
|
|
|
|
A California consumer group filed a lawsuit against health insurer Anthem Blue Cross, claiming the company is forcing customers into policies with less coverage and higher deductibles. One woman claims in the suit that Blue Cross offered her a new policy with minimal coverage and high deductibles, and when the offer expired, they raised the rates on her current policy. The lawsuit claims that Anthem is forcing older, sicker members to accept inferior coverage at higher prices or is dropping them all together. Victoria Colliver, San Francisco Chronicle 03/02/2010
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
A $300,000 settlement has been reached in a wrongful death lawsuit involving a child in the Colorado foster care system. The lawsuit accused the El Paso County Department of Human Services of negligence stemming from abuse by foster parent Jules Lynn Cuneo. Cuneo was convicted of child abuse resulting in death in February. Eileen Welsome and Joanna Bean, Colorado Springs Gazette 03/02/2010
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
A Texas jury on Monday ordered home building company Perry Homes to pay $47 million to a family who accused the company of building their home with hundreds of defects. The ruling ends a 10-year process of litigation. The two sides had previously gone to arbitration, but in 2007 the Texas Supreme Court vacated the $800,000 arbitration award and sent the case back to lower courts. Sandra Baker, Ft. Worth Star Telegram 03/02/2010
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
A lawsuit between Goodyear Tire and Rubber Co. and an Army Reserve officer has been settled after the officer filed a lawsuit when the Goodyear plant he worked for failed to hire him back when he returned from duty in 2007. According to the lawsuit, the tire company violated a federal law requiring employers to re-hire service members to their same position upon return. David J. Ellis claimed it was more than a year before the plant hired him back on. In the settlement, Goodyear will pay Ellis $40,000 in lost wages. Jay F. Marks, NewsOK.com 03/03/2010
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
The recent approval of a coal-fueled power plant in Dendron, Va., has sparked a lawsuit by local opposition who claim that the city council violated state code in approving the land-use permits at their February meeting. The lawsuit claims that Mayor Yvonne Pierce promised that a vote would not be held in February for the permit approval and that "the land-use descriptions provided in the town's legal advertisements and council information packets did not include the necessary details required for rezoning application ads." The plaintiffs said that they believe that residents concerns are being ignored by city official and request in the lawsuit that the court nullify the city council's actions. Allison T. Williams, The Daily Press 03/03/2010
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
A Pennsylvania man filed a lawsuit against the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania Tuesday, claiming that the hospital refused to perform emergency surgery on him because he did not have insurance. Marcus Murray was taken to Underwood Memorial Hospital in May 2008 with severe chest pains. When a CT scan revealed "complex dissection of the thoracic and abdominal aorta," the hospital requested a transfer to the Penn hospital for the surgery. The nurses notes on Murray's chart say that the transfer was accepted, but then a later note states that he was refused transfer "due to no medical insurance." Murray had the surgery at another hospital eight hours later, and as a result suffered brain damage and is blind. The lawsuit claims Penn hospital violated the Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act and is seeking unspecified damages. Josh Goldstein , Philadelphia Inquirer 03/03/2010
|
|
|
Products
|
|
|
|
|
Environmental advocates filed a lawsuit in San Francisco Tuesday against five companies who make fish oil supplements, along with retail stores that sell them, claiming the supplements contain levels of polychlorinated biphenyl compounds at levels above what has been deemed safe by health regulators. According to the lawsuit, tests done on fish oil products found levels of PBCs that exceed the California daily limit by a factor of 10 in terms of cancer risk. PCBs were banned by Congress in 1979 as they were know to cause cancer and birth defects. The lawsuit is asking for a label to be put on the products warning consumers of the risks. Jondi Gumz, San Jose Mercury News 03/02/2010
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
A jury has ordered Houston homebuilder Bob Perry to pay $51 million to a retirement-age Mansfield couple who fought for a decade over a defective house that Perry Homes refused to fix. Bob and Jane Cull say Perry wouldn't fix their house and so went to arbitration, where they won an $800,000 judgment. The homebuilder refused to pay. He appealed for years through the court system to the Texas Supreme Court, which overturned two lower courts and sent the case back to district court in Fort Worth. On Monday, a jury in Fort Worth ruled in the Cull's favor -- $7 million in actual damages and $40 million in punitive damages. The warranty company that failed to live up to its warranty and fix the house was ordered to pay $4 million more in punitive damages. Dallas Morning News (blog) 3-1-2010
|
|
|
|
|
|
A Massachusetts woman has joined a group of others across the country in a lawsuit against Utah biotech company Myriad Genetics, claiming the company's patent on the test for genetic mutations that can cause cancer is unconstitutional. Lisbeth Ceriani was diagnosed with breast cancer and wanted to be tested for a type of gene mutation that can lead to ovarian cancer, but cannot afford it because Myriad Genetics charges so much. The lawsuit claims that the patent impedes research and womens' access to their own genetic information through testing. The lawsuit also argues that the patents prevent cheaper and more readily available test from being developed. Kari Lydersen, The Washington Post 03/02/2010
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Two more large school districts in Colorado have joined a lawsuit originally filed in 2005 against the state accusing them of not providing enough funds to public schools. The lawsuit claims that the state provide enough funding across all the districts to create a "thorough and uniform education system." A district judge had originally thrown out the lawsuit in 2006, but that ruling was overturned by the Colorado Supreme Court last October. Tim Hoover, Denver Post 03/02/2010
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
A salmonella outbreak in the water supply of Alamosa, Colo., in 2008 has prompted 29 local families to file a lawsuit against the city. The Denver Post reported that up to 1,300 people may have become ill from salmonella, including 40 percent of the city's infants. The state's health department concluded that the outbreak was probably caused by animal feces that got into the water supply. The lawsuit seeks unspecified damages David Olinger, Denver Post 03/02/2010
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
A two nursing homes in Missoula have settled a wrongful death lawsuit for an undisclosed amount with the family of a man that died while under nursing home care in 2005. The lawsuit claimed that both Riverside Health Care Center and the Village Health Care Center were negligent in failing to provide adequate care for Ralph Seewald. The family alleges that the care given to Seewald fell well outside the standards promised by the nursing homes. Tristan Scott, Billings Gazette 02/28/2010
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
A lawsuit is soon to be filed against the University of Colorado Dental School that claims a dental resident pulled 13 teeth from a woman without her consent. The lawsuit also brings into question whether the procedure was properly supervised by a licensed dentist, as required by law. According to the lawsuit, Ida Dunn was told she was visiting the dentist for "deep teeth cleaning" and that the consent forms she signed did not mention any teeth extraction. The lawsuit also claims that the resident did not have his license at the time of the surgery and was not supervised during the procedure. The lawsuit is seeking $10 million in damages. Jennifer Brown and Kevin Vaughan, Denver Post 03/02/2010
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
A former veteran's agent in Melrose, Mass., has filed a lawsuit against the city to recoup wages of $104,774, which he claims were promised to him but never paid. In his lawsuit, John Dunne says the city promised to pay him according to the city's salary administration plan, which would have guaranteed him a yearly salary much higher than the annual $15,000 stipend he received over the last three years. He is also seeking compensation for emotional distress, attorney fees, and litigation costs related to the case. Alix Roy, Boston Globe 03/02/2010
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
The families of a group of U.S. Marines killed in a 1983 bombing in Lebanon have filed a lawsuit in New York federal court seeking ownership of a New York skyscraper owned by two companies who are allegedly sending money to the Iranian government illegally. Three years ago, a U.S. judge found the Iranian government liable for providing the materials used in the Lebanon bombing and awarded $2.6 billion in damages to the fami
|
|
|
