Lawyers from Beasley, Allen, Crow, Methvin, Portis & Miles, P.C., along with co-counsel, have filed a class action lawsuit for economic losses related to potentially defective airbags manufactured by Takata Corporation. The lawsuit represents owners of certain model Honda vehicles that contain the Takata airbags, which may deploy with excessive force, propelling metal fragments into the vehicle and potentially killing or injuring the driver and passenger.
The lawsuit is filed on behalf of class representatives Luke Hooper, Charlotte Whitehead, and Melinda Tingle. Defendants named in the lawsuit are Honda Motor Co. Ltd., American Honda Motor Co. Inc., Takata Corporation, and its American subsidiaries TK Holdings and Highland Industries Inc.
Honda Owners Take Note:
To date, more than 14 million vehicles with Takata-manufactured airbags have been recalled due to defects. Among those 14 million vehicles are more than 5 million Honda vehicles, including the following makes and model years:
- 2001- 2007 Honda Accord
- 2001 – 2005 Honda Civic
- 2002 – 2006 Honda CR-V
- 2003 – 2011 Honda Element
- 2002 – 2004 Honda Odyssey
- 2003 – 2007 Honda Pilot
- 2006 Honda Ridgeline
- 2003 – 2006 Acura MDX
- 2002 – 2003 Acura TL/CL
- 2005 Acura RL
Any person in the United States who purchased or leased a Class Vehicle equipped with the defective Takata airbags is eligible to participate in this class action litigation. These vehicle owners were exposed to faulty airbags that reduce their protection and place them at risk of serious injury or death.
The complaint alleges that while Honda owners and drivers could not have known about the potential danger posed by the airbags, the Defendants knew about the defect, failed to disclose it to consumers and actively concealed the defect from the public and federal regulators. It was not until December 2011, when the fifth recall related to the same defect, Honda finally reported the injuries and deaths related to the Takata airbags to federal regulators.
Due to the deadly nature of the defective airbags, NHTSA has taken the extreme step of warning owners of the 4.7 million Hondas in states with high humidity that they should “act immediately” to have the defective airbags repaired. The NHTSA warning followed a report from Takata that the defective airbags are more likely to explode in humid climates.
Case Information
The class action lawsuit is filed in the United States District Court, Central District of California. The case is Hooper et al v. American Honda et al, case 2:14-cv-08565.
Attorneys for the Plaintiffs include:
- Beasley Allen Principal & Consumer Fraud Section Head W. Daniel “Dee” Miles, III
- Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Berstein, LLP attorneys Elizabeth J. Cabraser, Todd A. Walburg and Phong-Chau G. Nguyen
- Dawn M. Barrios and Zachary Wool from Barrios, Kingsdorf & Caseteix, LLP.
Read the complaint.
