289 Settlements Reached in Toyota Unintended Acceleration MDL

Attorneys for the plaintiffs and defendants have informed the California judge presiding over the Toyota unintended acceleration multidistrict litigation (MDL) that the Toyota settlement process has continued to receive claims and make settlement deals, apparently reaching 289 cases with approved Toyota settlements. The Toyota unintended acceleration class action lawsuits included in this MDL settlement agreement claim that Toyota Motor Corp.’s vehicles contained an unintended acceleration defect that caused a number of deaths and injuries.

U.S. District Judge James V. Selna was told by attorneys from both sides that 132 of 171 Toyota unintended acceleration lawsuits consolidated in the Toyota MDL and 45 of 84 cases filed in state courts that have been coordinated with the MDL have been resolved through the offered settlement. Additionally, 112 unintended acceleration lawsuits not included in the Toyota MDL or state proceedings have also been settled by the automobile company.

According to the Toyota unintended acceleration class action lawsuit, “The [Intensive Settlement Process] is continuing to make good progress as the parties attempt to resolve the various personal injury, wrongful death and/or property damage cases pending before this court and in other courts,” the parties have stated.

Of the 39 Toyota unintended acceleration lawsuits still pending within the MDL, only four did not choose to the intensive settlement process. Within the Toyota lawsuits coordinated in state courts, only 39 are pending and two of the 39 have not requested the intensive settlement process.

These legal updates by both parties in the Toyota unintended acceleration MDL comes just 5 months after Toyota announced that about half of the individual unintended acceleration lawsuits filed within the MDL and housed in the state proceedings had been resolved.

The Toyota unintended acceleration class action settlement was agreed upon in December 2013, when the automaker agreed to begin the settlement negotiation process with hundreds of consumers, who allege claims of personal injury, wrongful death, and property damage allegedly caused by an unintended acceleration defect present in many Toyota vehicles.

According to the unintended acceleration class action settlement, the total value of the settlements involving personal injury and wrongful death will not be made clear until all lawsuits are resolved, since each Toyota settlement is being negotiated on an individual basis.

Because of the alleged acceleration defect, Toyota recalled millions of their brand name trucks and vehicles in 2009 and 2010 after the automaker received reports that some Toyota cars demonstrated unintended acceleration.

In another related claims housed under the Toyota MDL, the company agreed to pay $1.1 billion to settle claims that the unintended acceleration defect hurt the overall value of the Toyota vehicles. This part of the settlement, known as the economic loss deal, was given final approval by Judge Selna and would provide relief to about 23 million Class Members.

The plaintiffs are represented by Elizabeth J. Cabraser and Todd A. Walburg of Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein LLP, Mark P. Robinson Jr. and Donald H. Slavik of Robinson Calcagnie Robinson Shapiro Davis Inc., and W. Daniel Miles III of Beasley Allen Crow Methvin Portis & Miles PC.

The Toyota Unintended Acceleration Class Action Lawsuit is In Re: Toyota Motor Corp. Unintended Acceleration Marketing, Sales Practices, And Products Liability Litigation, Case No. 8:10-ml-02151, in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California.

UPDATE: On Nov. 15, 2017, nearly 500 lawsuits alleging defects caused death and injury from unintended acceleration in Toyota vehicles have been settled by the automotive giant.