TJP

Chrysler and Product Liability Plaintiffs

By Byron A. Ellis – June 10, 2009

If automaker Chrysler expects to emerge with a potential customer base from bankruptcy it must address product liability lawsuits. Most consumers would not patronize an automaker that refuses to address consumer injuries that resulted from its defective products.

Mr. Jeremy K Warriner who in 2005 suffered serious fire injuries in a Jeep Wrangler that resulted in amputations of both legs, filed a lawsuit against Chrysler in Marion County, Indiana. According to the lawsuit, a design defect in the Wrangler trapped Mr. Warriner inside the vehicle, preventing him from escaping a fire in the engine compartment. However, Chrysler denied those charges.

The Reeves Law Group indicated that people like Warriner might be left out without justice because of the bankruptcy procedures.

Farbod Nourian is another alleged Chrysler injury case. Nourian claimed that he was injured when his cousin’s Grand Cherokee slipped from park into reverse throwing him on a concrete garage floor resulting in the rupture of three discs, a crushed vertebrae and internal bruising and injuries. Mr. Nourian has a November court date, which might not materialize due to Chrysler’s bankruptcy.

The pool of potential Chrysler customers will diminish in the near future if Chrysler uses the bankruptcy proceeding to evade deserving product liability claims. Such evasion would also reflect negatively on the Obama administration.

Therefore, it is important for the Obama administration to ensure that Chrysler does use bankruptcy proceedings to evade product liability plaintiffs. Moreover, they should encourage the carmaker to seek fair settlement with deserving product liability plaintiffs.

If Chrysler, Fiat, and the government fail to address the product liability issue, it is unlikely that the Chrysler and Fiat would have a large American customer base. 

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