Monday, June 9, 2014

Which Is More Horrific, GM Recall Debacle or the Pinto?

Look  I  tried  cases for 20 years. Litigated against  Ford, GM,  Chrysler, Japanese manufacturers....you name it. These  companies fight to the death. Biggest, baddest  defense attorneys. No negotiations. Three day depostions of plaintiffs. Hundred page sets of interrogatories. Experts , discovery  blockades and much , much more. Seen it, done it, been there. And they're very good at what they do. Protecting  their product and of course, their bottom-line !!
  So  with the airing of GM's very, very dirty laundry, it brought back  memories of the  Ford Pinto cases. Yes, in the early 1970's  ,  the Pinto, as a result  of the location of its fuel tank , was involved in rear-end  exploding gas tank accidents. Horrifying injuries and  deaths. It came to light during discovery, that Ford knew of the defect, but on advice of it's bean-counters it was deemed to be  less expensive to defend all the cases than it was to undertake a massive recall. As I recall, at trial Ford got hit with a massive  punitive damages verdict! Couldn't happen to nicer guys.  Respectfully , I wish the  same fate for GM  in their current  nightmare...And remember, punitive damages can't be extinguished in Bankruptcy Court.....

No comments:

Post a Comment