Remington to Settle Rifle Trigger Defect Class Action Lawsuit

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Remington Arms Company, LLC announced last week that it plans to settle a class action lawsuit accusing the firearm manufacturer of selling its Model 700 bolt-action hunting rifles with a defective trigger mechanism that causes the rifle to fire without the trigger being pulled.

Notice of the Remington rifle class action settlement was filed July 2 in Missouri federal court. Details of the deal and what consumers will receive were not included.

The Remington rifle settlement will resolve a 2013 class action lawsuit filed by lead plaintiff Ian Pollard, who alleged that he bought a Model 700 rifle in 2000 and it fired unexpectedly as a result of the purportedly defective trigger. Following his own research and testing, Pollard asserts in the class action lawsuit that the problem lies in a defect in the trigger mechanism’s Walker Fire Control.

Its design, the Remington class action lawsuit argues, was such that debris and particles could become enmeshed and cause the action to move, in spite of Remington’s assertions that it was a “trusted, safe, and reliable rifle.”

If the expected recall comes, it would have massive implications for hundreds of thousands of gun owners. Millions of Model 700 rifles have been sold over the past several decades using the Walker Fire Control trigger, and it is unclear whether or not a repair or some other form of compensation would be included in the expected settlement with Remington.

Details of the Remington rifle class action settlement are unlikely to come before Oct. 30, the deadline for both the plaintiffs’ class action lawyers and the defense team to submit a joint settlement agreement. At the time of the settlement notice, Judge Ortrie D. Smith had trimmed some of the claims from the class action lawsuit, but maintained that Pollard could seek damages on counts of fraudulent concealment, noting that the man met the pleading standards by noting prior knowledge of Remington officials regarding the allegedly defective trigger without warning the public.

The plaintiffs are represented by class action lawyers from Levin, Fishbein, Sedran and Berman; Parker Waichman LLP; Climaco, Wilcox, Peca, Tarantino & Garofoli Co., LPA; Neblett, Beard & Arsenault; Hollard, Groves, Schneller & Stolze, LLC; Bolen Robinson & Ellis, LLP; Ramler Law Office; Monsees & Mayer, PC; Lanier Law Firm; and Keller Rohrback LLP.

The Remington Rifle Trigger Defect Class Action Lawsuit is Ian Pollard, et al. v. Remington Arms Company LLC, et al., Case No. 13-cv-00086, U.S District Court for the Western District of Missouri.

UPDATE: Details on how to file a claim for the Remington firearms class action settlement are up!

UPDATE 2: On Jan. 17, 2017, parties to a long-fought Remington defective trigger class action lawsuit are seeking final court approval of a settlement agreement covering upwards of 7 million individual firearms.