A Texas judge has taken the unusual step of appointing a special counsel to investigate whether Toyota intentionally withheld crucial safety data while defending itself against a rollover crash lawsuit.
Pennie Green, who was paralyzed in the rollover of a Toyota Camry in 2006, settled her case for $1.5 million the following year. But after whistleblower Dimitrios Biller, a former Toyota lawyer, said safety data were knowingly concealed from Green and other plaintiffs, Green began a contempt of court proceeding against Toyota for violating the discovery order in her case.
Judge John E. Neill of Johnson County District Court disclosed last week that, after reviewing documents provided by Biller, he decided to appoint Greg Coontz, one of his former law firm partners, to look into whether Green has a viable case for contempt. “Our position is we want to get to the truth and we believe the judge does too,” Green’s lawyer told the Los Angeles Times. “There must be enough information in the documents the judge reviewed for him to proceed with the case.”
The Times said that if Green’s allegations turn out to be true, “it could be a significant blow to Toyota, which has been working to bolster its credibility in the wake of federal investigations into its sudden acceleration problems. In addition, a contempt ruling against Toyota could be cited by attorneys representing motorists in scores of lawsuits against the automaker nationwide.”
As Texas Lawyer has reported, attempts to reopen similar suits against Toyota in federal court in Texas have “essentially stopped” after plaintiffs’ lawyers concluded that nothing in Biller’s evidence indicated Toyota engaged in discovery abuse. But Green has proceeded in state court, benefiting from an appeals court ruling last year that she could pursue contempt charges.
Toyota has labeled Biller a “disgruntled employee” and argued that Neill has no jurisdiction to reopen the case. Referring to Coontz’s appointment, the company said in a statement, “We are confident that we have acted appropriately with respect to product liability litigation and our discovery practices, including in the Green case. The recent order by the Texas court is not a finding that Toyota violated any discovery obligation.”
Green contends that if Toyota had not hidden information from her, she might have sought a larger settlement or gone to trial.
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