Audi loses $124 million Texas verdict over seat-back failure

The parents of Jesse Rivera Jr. claimed the seat back of the 2005 Audi A4 was too weak to withstand a rear-end crash. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)

(Bloomberg) — A Texas jury ordered Volkswagen AG’s Audi unit to pay $124.5 million to an 11-year-old boy who was left brain damaged in a 2012 rear-end collision.

The parents of Jesse Rivera Jr. claimed the seat back of the 2005 Audi A4 was too weak to withstand a rear-end crash. The front seat collapsed, and the driver, the boy’s father, slid backwards hitting his head on his son’s in the back seat, said the family’s attorney, Jeff Wigington.