A California jury has awarded plaintiffs $14,967,421 in a case charging that a car's design defect had caused injuries in an accident.
Facts & Allegations
Marcia Gray, a legal researcher, alleged that she was driving a 1995 Mazda Protege west on Interstate 580, near I-980 west, in Oakland, California, when she was rear-ended by a Chevrolet Cheyenne pickup truck.
According to Ms. Gray's counsel, the collision caused her seat to collapse backward, and the back of her head was struck by the intruding metal caused by the impact from the pickup truck. Ms. Gray alleged injuries to her head, brain, spine, and ribs, and partial paraplegia.
Ms. Gray and her husband sued Mazda Motor of America Inc., alleging several claims under theories of strict liability and negligence. At trial, the Grays' counsel proceeded solely with a design-defect claim based on the “consumer expectation” test.
The Grays' counsel argued that Mazda was aware of the seat's lack of stability and entered into evidence video footage from an April 1995 crash test which, it was argued, demonstrated the seat's defect.
The company's accident reconstruction expert concluded that Mazda's safety engineers could not have foreseen this specific occurrence. Mazda's biomechanical expert testified that the force of the impact was to blame for Gray's injuries, not the failure of her seat.
Result
The jury found that the car seat was defectively designed under the “consumer expectation” theory and that the seat's failure was a substantial factor in causing Ms. Gray's injuries. Mazda was held 55 percent responsible and the pickup truck driver was held 45 percent responsible.
Ms. Gray was compensated $8,967,421 in economic damages and $5 million in non-economic damages.
Under California law, the defendants were severally liable for the non-economic damages; therefore, Mazda was responsible for 55 percent of the $5 million non-economic damages award but jointly and severally liable for economic damages.
Mr. Gray was compensated $1 million in damages for his loss of consortium claim, of which Mazda also was liable for 55 percent.
The case is Gray v. Alfresco, No. RG14723293 (Calif. Alameda Co. April 1, 2016). Attorneys involved include: Plaintiff Attorney(s): Craig M. Peters; The Veen Firm, P.C.; San Francisco, CA, for Donald Gray, Marcia Gray; David L. Winnett; The Veen Firm, P.C.; San Francisco, CA, for Donald Gray, Marcia Gray; Defense Attorney(s):Patrick J. Becherer; Becherer Kannett & Schweitzer; Emeryville, CA, for Mazda Motor of America Inc. Emily D. Bergstrom; Becherer, Kannett & Schweitzer; Emeryville, CA, for Mazda Motor of America Inc.
FC&S Legal Comment
This report is based on information that was provided by plaintiffs' counsel. Defense counsel declined to contribute.
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Steven A. Meyerowitz
Steven A. Meyerowitz, a Harvard Law School graduate, is the founder and president of Meyerowitz Communications Inc., a law firm marketing communications consulting company. He may be contacted at [email protected].