Remington to Replace Triggers Under Class Action Settlement

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Last week, a joint motion for preliminary settlement was filed by the parties in the class action lawsuit alleging that the triggers in millions of Model 700 rifles produced and sold by Remington Arms Company LLC are faulty, causing accidental discharges and fatalities.

According to documents filed in Missouri federal court, Remington will remove the original trigger mechanism from some the affected rifles and replace them with new triggers. Owners of other affected Remington firearms with triggers that cannot be replaced will receive vouchers for Remington products. Additionally, Class Members will receive an educational DVD covering safe firearm handling practices.

The agreement “culminates from extensive mediator supervised negotiations between lawyers for those concerned about the triggers and Remington, who while denying there is any cause for concern, always desires to ensure that its customers are satisfied with Remington products,” said Remington and a representative for the Class Members in a joint statement issued last week.

The proposed settlement agreement will end two class action lawsuits filed in late January 2013 in Washington and Missouri. The class action lawsuits alleged that the Model 700 rifles manufactured by Remington with the company’s patented “Walker Fire Control” technology had design flaws that could and have resulted in accidental discharges without the trigger being pulled and could lead to accidental fatalities. According to the class action lawsuits, the Walker Fire Control design, found in many Remington firearms sold since 1948, can allow debris and particles to become enmeshed and cause the action to move, leading to accidental discharge.

The plaintiffs accused the defendants, including Remington, Sporting Goods Properties Inc., and the DuPont Co., of negligence, breach of warranty, fraudulent concealment, various state law violations and other allegations. The plaintiffs also claimed that internal Remington documents show that almost immediately following the production of the firearms in 1948, the company became aware that they were firing without a trigger pull, but failed to issue a recall or mitigate the alleged problem.

According to the Remington class action settlement documents, Class Members include owners of Remington Model 700, Seven, Sportsman 78, 673, 710, 715, 770, 600, 660, XP-100, 721, 722, and 725 firearms containing a Remington trigger mechanism that utilizes a trigger connector; owners of Remington Model 700 and Model Seven rifles containing an X-Mark Pro trigger mechanism manufactured from May 1, 2006, to April 9, 2014; and owners of Remington Model 700 and Model Seven rifles who replaced at their own cost their rifle’s original Walker trigger mechanism with an X-Mark Pro trigger mechanism.

Remington began to voluntarily replace triggers in certain models of rifles. The parties began class action settlement negotiations in July of this year.

Plaintiffs are represented by Richard Ramler of Ramler Law Office PC; Jordan L. Chaikin of Parker Waichman LLP; Richard Arsenault of Neblett Beard & Arsenault; Jon D. Robinson and Christopher Ellis of Bolen Robinson & Ellis LLP; Charles E. Schaffer of Levin Fishbein Sedran & Berman; Eric Holland of Holland Law Firm; Timothy Monsees of Monsees Mayer; and John Climaco of Climaco Law Firm and Mark Lanier of Lanier Law Firm.

The Remington Rifle Trigger Defect Class Action Lawsuits are Ian Pollard, et al. v. Remington Arms Co. LLC, et al., Case No. 4:13-cv-00086, in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Missouri, Western Division; and William G. Moodie, et al. v. Remington Arms Co. LLC, et al., Case No. 2:13-cv-00172, in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington at Seattle.

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.