REPORT: Toyota accused of 'ruthless conspiracy' to conceal, destroy evidence by former attorney
Toyota 4Runner with Urban Runner package - Click above for high-res image gallery
Toyota looks to have a potential public-relations nightmare on its hands. According to CBS News, one of the company's former lawyers, Dimitrios P. Biller, has filed a federal racketeering suit against the Japanese automaker. Biller worked for Toyota from 2003 through 2007 defending the company against rollover lawsuits blaming injuries and deaths on the alleged instability and weak roof structures of the company's SUVs and pickups. Biller's suit alleges that Toyota has withheld electronic evidence like emails in over 300 rollover cases, and it states that evidence was destroyed by the company in spite of his efforts to secure the data. The suit also alleges that Toyota withheld design and test data for vehicle roofs, and it also states that some vehicles on the road today don't meet roof safety standards.
The disgruntled lawyer claims that he was forced to resign in 2007 after lodging several complaints to his supervisors about the company's alleged legal misconduct. The lawsuit claims that conflicts resulting from Biller's complaints ultimately led to his mental breakdown, along with a $3.7 million severance payout from Toyota.
Toyota is saying very little about Biller's charges, though the company told CBS News that Biller's charges are "inaccurate and misleading," and that the company "takes its legal obligations seriously and works to uphold the highest professional and ethical standards." The lawsuit was filed on July 24, but Toyota has worked to seal the complaint due to what the company calls privileged and confidential information.
The legal skermish has, rather predictably, caught the eye of lawyers around the country. If the lawsuit gains traction and has a favorable outcome for Biller, dozens of Toyota legal victories could be called into question. Denver lawyer Stuart Ollanik of Gilbert, Ollanik and Komyatte has reportedly settled dozens of cases against Toyota and he told CBS News that he wondered if the cases "were resolved based on honest information or not." San Jose lawyer James McManis, who lost a case involving a plaintiff who became a quadriplegic after rolling over in a Toyota 4Runner, told CBS News that everything "was a big fight – and I mean everything," and he wonders if he ever got all the information he was entitled to receive.
It's important to remember that none of the information in Biller's lawsuit has been proven, and rollover suits have been pretty common for many automakers. Whether Toyota is at fault or not, though, the suit can't be good publicity for a company that prides itself on its quality and safety record. The motion is set for September 14. Hat tip to Steve.
[Source: CBS News]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 4)
Luis 10:32AM (8/31/2009)
and here come the armchair lawyers...3, 2, 1...
Reply
l.i.dave 11:10AM (8/31/2009)
their goes the smug pointless comment.
bravo
Slizzo 11:22AM (8/31/2009)
And there goes the spelling/grammar/punctuation deficient comment.
Bravo l.i.dave.
some1 11:41AM (8/31/2009)
And there goes the random grammer check, because that's all he's got.
Bravo slizzo
Yaroukh 11:55AM (8/31/2009)
shut up all of you
bravo me
click.kas 2:21PM (8/31/2009)
All it takes is one hole to sink a ship!
http://www.indianautotalk.com
Borrego 2:25PM (8/31/2009)
Well, the writer misspelled "skirmish." That's three posts read, three mistakes spotted. Depressing. Robs Autoblog of legitimacy.
AMcA 11:23PM (8/31/2009)
$3.7M severance for a staff lawyer? That has to have been about 20 years worth of wages for this guy (my guess - but it doesn't sound like he was their top guy or anything).
'Scuse me, but I gotta wonder if Toyota maybe thought it was buying silence.
John P. 10:32AM (8/31/2009)
I guess Toyota is going to have to come to grips with the realities of being Numero Uno. Like, People, sports teams and even entire countries for example, it does tend to put a giant target on your back.
Reply
Tool 11:56AM (8/31/2009)
Exactly.
But I think we are also seeing that Toyota is just as greedy and ruthless and arrogant as their American counterparts.
Judy Zik 12:18PM (8/31/2009)
There is no such thing as a corporation that isn't greedy and ruthless. The law and the markets require them to put returning value to their shareholders above all other considerations. The rest is just marketing. Anyone who buys into the warm fuzzy images of any of these companies has been watching too many commercials.
DayShifter 1:21PM (8/31/2009)
@Judy Zik
+1
Brandon 2:51PM (8/31/2009)
@Judy Zik
Google
the4thheat 2:13AM (9/01/2009)
This guy got $3.7 million for severance after going nuts (man, I wish I had a job where if I go nuts they pay me $3.7 million to leave) and he's back for more money.
I think this case would have more validity if it weren't for the fact that Toyota roof strength ratings are consistently some of the best-seriously check all the IIHS roof strength tests-they're very consistently towards the top of the pack.
So if Toyota's roof strength isn't enough everyone else is going to get sued to oblivion as well.
Come to think of it I suspect the lawyers are salivating over Toyota because they can't sue new GM or new Chrysler for the old GM and old Chrysler's products anymore since they wouldn't get any money out of it even if they won. So I guess all the lawyers are aiming at Toyota to try and pay their bills
.
Avinash machado 10:34AM (8/31/2009)
This can't be true. Import companies like Toyota are perfect.
Reply
ckm 10:44AM (8/31/2009)
+1 Brilliant
Leclerc 11:26AM (8/31/2009)
This image of Toyota being "perfect" was spawned by people like yourself. Dude, just stop, do you really think that Toyota "thinks" they are perfect? It's a car company, not a person, why not get in touch with reality and get over your obvious obsession with bashing the same car company and find something useful to do with your time. Does it make you feel better every time you spew sheer idiocy?
some1 11:43AM (8/31/2009)
sarcasm fail ^^
DayShifter 1:29PM (8/31/2009)
@Leclerc
You're right, they don't think they're perfect, just better than any other car company on the planet.
the4thheat 2:41AM (9/01/2009)
Oh come on, with half it's competition committing harakiri Toyota hardly had to be perfect to become #1.
At this point simply not being bankrupt is considered some sort of magical achievement with people raving about how brilliant Ford was for not going bankrupt.
If you guys really think the bar's been set particularly high then that's a real sad state of affairs.
Seriously though the most successful car companies out there now (the fast up and comers) are companies like VW and Hyundai. I mean companies that were previously at the very bottom of the reliability barrel are now considered amongst the most successful, largely because the other (non-luxury) car companies basically shot themselves in the head with a shotgun.
Anyways, hopefully Ford (and I guess now VW and Hyundai) force Toyota to step up their game because frankly it's like Toyota's at the head of the special ed class right now.