Takata Airbag Class Action Plaintiffs Fight Bid to Trim Claims

The plaintiffs in a massive consolidated Takata airbag defect class action lawsuit fought back against defendants Toyota Motor Corp. and Honda Motor Co. Inc., claiming their attempts to trim certain state law claims from the litigation are “inefficient and premature” because Class representatives may be added and substituted prior to certification.

On March 18, the plaintiffs filed reply motions in response to motions filed earlier this month by Toyota and Honda. Toyota sought to dismiss Nevada claims for deceptive practices and breach of the implied warranty of merchantability. Honda sought to dismiss similar claims that were brought under Pennsylvania law.

According to court documents, Toyota and Honda filed their motions in response to the Class representatives’ indication that they would voluntarily dismiss their Nevada and Pennsylvania claims. The auto makers allege that the decision to drop these claims leaves other putative Class Members without standing to make these state-based claims.

The plaintiffs disagreed with the auto makers’ arguments, stating that the plaintiffs have not yet formally dismissed their claims, and that even when they do dismiss their claims, Class representatives from other states with similar claims will be sufficient to provide standing.

“Class representatives from other states asserting breach of implied warranty of merchantability and deceptive trade practices claims can adequately represent absent Nevada class members, as the class representatives’ claims ‘arise out of the same course of conduct and are based on the same legal theories as those of the absent class members,’” the plaintiffs argue.

The Takata airbag defect class action lawsuit accuses Takata and various auto makers of violating racketeering and consumer protection laws by allegedly hiding that airbags made by Takata were defective and dangerous. The Takata class action lawsuit states that the airbag inflators contain ammonium nitrate, which can cause the airbags to explode, especially in humid climates.

According to the class action lawsuit, the defendants knew about the Takata airbag defect for 10 years, but concealed it from consumers.

In December, the Takata airbag class action lawsuit survived a motion to dismiss filed by the automakers. The U.S. District Judge Frederico A. Moreno found that the economic plaintiff Class provided sufficient information to support claims that the alleged airbag defect caused them harm because they paid more for their vehicles than they would have if they had known about the Takata airbag defect.

The plaintiffs reportedly provided specific communications between Honda and Takata that showed the companies jointly and secretly shared information about airbag deployments, misled regulatory authorities and delayed the release of incriminating information.

In his December order, Judge Moreno also refused to dismiss consumer protection and warranty claims under state laws, over concerns from the defendants that the laws of 30 states were too different to consolidate in one massive class action lawsuit. He allowed the state law claims to move forward, finding that the defendants’ arguments were premature.

The plaintiffs are represented by lead counsel Peter Prieto, Aaron S. Podhurst, Stephen F. Rosenthal, Alissa Del Riego, John Gravante and Matthew P. Weinshall of Podhurst & Orseck PA.

The Takata Airbag Defect Class Action Lawsuit is In Re: Takata Airbag Products Liability Litigation, Case No. 1:15-md-02599, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida.

UPDATE: On April 22, 2016, Honda argued to dismiss the multidistrict litigation because they claim the plaintiff refuses to comply with discovery.

UPDATE 2: On Sept. 21, 2016, several claims against Toyota were dismissed from a class action lawsuit involving Takata airbags that have prompted the recall of around 64 million vehicles in the United States.

UPDATE 3 August 18, 2017: UPDATE: BMW, Mazda, Nissan, Subaru and Toyota have agreed to settle economic loss class action lawsuits related to the Takata airbag defect.  Click here to file a claim!

UPDATE 4: On Sept. 5, 2018, Ford’s nearly $300 million settlement agreement for its part in a Takata airbag defect class action lawsuit was preliminarily approved by a federal judge.

UPDATE 5: On April 7, 2020, Top Class Actions viewers started receiving checks in the mail from the Takata airbags class action settlement worth as much as $400. Congratulations to everyone who filed a claim and got PAID!