Plaintiffs in Chrysler Air Bag Class Action Request Court to Expand the Class
13 March 1999
Plaintiffs in $59 Million Chrysler Air Bag Class Action Verdict Request Court to Expand the Class to Entire Nation and to Triple the Damage Award Under the Consumer Protection LawPHILADELPHIA, March 12 -- The Plaintiffs in Crawley v. DaimlerChrysler Corp. have filed their post trial petition with the Court of Common Pleas of Philadelphia County, in which they request the Court to expand the case from a Pennsylvania class to include the entire nation. In papers filed by Joseph C. Kohn and Martin J. D'Urso of the firm of Kohn, Swift & Graf, P.C., and Isaac H. Green, Jr., of the firm of Adrian Moody, P.C., the Plaintiffs also requested the Court to triple the $59 million compensatory damage award under the Pennsylvania Consumer Protection Law, and order DaimlerChrysler to pay the Plaintiffs' attorneys' fees. On February 18, 1999, after a three week trial, the jury found that air bags in Chrysler vehicles manufactured between 1988 and 1991 were defective because they caused serious hand, wrist and arm burns when 500-600 degree gases were vented from holes located where drivers most frequently hold their hands. The jury also found that Chrysler committed fraud and violated three provisions of the Pennsylvania Consumer Protection Law by concealing the dangerous defect in the air bags even after its own study had confirmed an unacceptable burn risk. The verdict was the largest ever in an air bag case, and one of the largest jury verdicts in a consumer class action in the country. The Plaintiffs had originally requested the Court to certify the case on behalf of all vehicles in the United States. In a ruling in 1994, the Court limited the class to Pennsylvania drivers only. "The jury found that Chrysler's air bag was defective and that Chrysler lied to consumers about its product. There is no reason why the citizens of other states should not receive the protection and benefits of the jury's findings. Chrysler had the opportunity to fully and fairly defend itself and it lost. It would be an unnecessary burden on the judicial system to have to relitigate this issue in 50 states," said Joseph C. Kohn, counsel for the Plaintiffs. Plaintiffs also have requested the Court to triple the damage award under the Pennsylvania Consumer Protection Law. "The jury found by clear and convincing evidence that Chrysler committed fraud. Tripling the award will send a clear message to the DaimlerChrysler executives from Detroit to Berlin that injuring and misleading consumers will not be tolerated," said Martin J. D'Urso, co-counsel for Plaintiffs. The Plaintiffs cited a recent appellate decision in which the Pennsylvania Superior Court instructed that, when fraud had been found, a failure to award treble damages would do "violence to the intent and purpose" of the Pennsylvania Consumer Protection Law. The Plaintiffs also noted that DaimlerChrysler has recently paid one of its Co-Chairmen, Robert Eaton, salary and stock options for 1998 worth almost $70 million. "Chrysler's claims that the jury award was excessive ring terribly hollow in light of such an astronomical payment. If there is a compensation system that has run amuck, it's one that would pay one chief executive more than 82,000 defrauded consumers. Yet, absent trebling, that's precisely what would happen here, " said Kohn. Under Pennsylvania procedure, the trial court will rule on the post trial motions of the parties before any appeals can be taken.