Judge Delays Approval of $1.1 Billion Toyota Acceleration Settlement

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UPDATE: Judge approves Toyota Unintended Acceleration Class Action Lawsuit Settlement.

A California federal judge has delayed the final approval of Toyota Motor Corp.’s $1.1 billion class action settlement over unintended acceleration claims.

In an order issued June 14, U.S. District Judge James V. Selna said he wants more information about how the $1.1 billion would be distributed to the more than 22 million putative class members. He has scheduled a hearing on July 19 to work out the details of the class action settlement.

In 2009 and 2010, Toyota recalled millions of its vehicles after reports that several models had experienced sudden unintended acceleration. The plaintiffs in the unintended acceleration class action lawsuit allege that Toyota’s recall had seriously diminished their vehicles’ value.

According to the class action settlement terms, $250 million was set aside for eligible Class Members who traded in or sold a Subject Vehicle during the damage period or returned a leased Subject Vehicle before the lease period expired. Another $250 million will be available to eligible Class Members who owned a Subject Vehicle on the date of the preliminary settlement approval order, so that they can purchase a brake override system.

The “damage period” in the Toyota unintended acceleration settlement refers to the period of time between September 1, 2009 and December 31, 2010. According to the plaintiffs’ economist, the Subject Vehicles suffered a loss in value due to the public reports of unintended acceleration events. Many people who heard about the reports of unintended acceleration returned or sold the affected vehicle at a lower price than the car would have been worth without the negative publicity.

The Toyota unintended acceleration class action lawsuits had been consolidated in multidistrict litigation (MDL) to coordinate the pretrial proceedings. A bellwether personal injury trial has been scheduled to take place in July, while a federal bellwether personal injury trial has been scheduled for November.

While he initially found the settlement to be “fair, reasonable and adequate,” he questioned whether the class action settlement amount would be sufficient to compensate the class members as well as other Toyota owners who had not joined the multidistrict litigation. The deadline to submit a claim for the Toyota unintended acceleration class action settlement is July 29, 2013. Detailed claim filing instructions can be found in our Open Class Action Lawsuits section.

Steve W. Berman, one of the plaintiffs’ attorneys, called the settlement agreement “remarkable,” as it has the potential to be one of the largest class action settlements involving automobile litigation in U.S. history.

The case is In re: Toyota Motor Corp. Unintended Acceleration Marketing, Sales Practices and Products Liability Litigation, Case No. 10-ml-02151, in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California.

The plaintiffs are represented by Steve W. Berman, Lisa M Hasselman, Elaine T. Byszewski, Robert B. Carey, Lee M. Gordon and Barbara M. Mahoney of Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro LLP; Frank M. Pitre, Aron K. Liang, Nancy Leavett Fineman and Joseph W. Cotchett of Cotchett Pitre & McCarthy LLP; and Mark M. Seltzer, William R.H. Merrill, Robert S. Safi, Rachel S. Black, Steven G. Sklaver and Ryan C. Kirkpatrick of Susman Godfrey LLP, among others.