Defective Products—Will the World be held Accountable?

January 13th, 2011. By janem

Wikileaks just got wind of a secret document from Chinese officials regarding the pending Foreign Manufacturers Legal Accountability Act of 2010, or FMLAA. If the bill is passed, China plans to buy “Made in America” products, from toys to drywall, splatter  them with lead paint and sell these defective products to countries that trade with the US.  Why, you may ask? Because China wants to level the playing field: If the US can sue China under the FMLAA for contaminated drywall and defective toys, “foreign countries” (including Canada and the EU) can sue the US because their “Made in America” products are contaminated with lead paint.

KIDDING!  But it may have crossed the minds of unscrupulous Chinese manufacturers…

Last February, Representative Betty Sutton introduced the FMLAA following the Chinese drywall debacle, which came on the heels of other problems with imported products—from baby cribs and toys to auto brakes. This bill will take the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2009 one step further, to product litigation. It means that foreign manufacturers who ship to the US will have to hire a resident US agent, who will then have to “accept service of process on behalf of such manufacturer or producer for the purpose of all civil and regulatory actions in State and Federal Courts.” No registered agent, no importation.

On Tuesday, January 11^th, the Supreme Court was scheduled to hear two cases about the right to sue a foreign manufacturer in the U.S. court system.

In the first case, Robert Nicastro lost his four right fingers in 2001 while operating a machine used to cut metal made by McIntyre Machinery, based in the UK. The machine Nicastro was operating did not meet U.S. safety standards, but was marketed at trade shows across the US for 15 years. Nicastro brought a product liability case against the company in 2003, and McIntyre is arguing that because they are a UK company, they did not have sufficient “contacts” in New Jersey for the state’s legal system to have jurisdiction over them.

In the second case, two young boys, Matt Helms and Julian Brown were killed in a bus accident while traveling to Paris, France for a soccer tournament. The driver of the bus lost control when the Goodyear tire from the bus had its plies separate, causing the bus to rollover. The families of the boys are seeking to hold Goodyear Luxembourg, the manufacturer of the tire, accountable in the North Carolina court system.

Meanwhile, the head of the US Consumer Product Safety Commission seems to be up against a brick wall (pardon the pun) after meeting with her counterparts there about defective Chinese drywall, among other issues. Chinese drywall manufacturers have yet to come to the table for discussions. (According to the CPSC, as of Jan. 7, there were 3,770 incidents reported of defective drywall.)

Perhaps the threat of litigation under the FMLAA will get them talking.

Reader Takes Chrysler Town & Country to Task on Video

January 13th, 2011. By AbiK

This just in from a reader re: Chrysler Town and Country:

Please help me….I’ve hit a brick wall with all my inquiries and this is a HUGE issue.
Please go to youtube and type in silverlake003 and the video list will show up.
It’s about the third one down with the back bumper of a Chrysler Town and Country, sort of a wine color.
This quick video will explain it.
We were rear-ended just before Christmas.
The seatbelts did not lock and my daughter who was in a booster was flipped outside down and pinned between her seat and the passenger seat.
The seatbelts lock if you slam on the breaks but not if you are sitting still.
I filed a report with the NHTSA but was simply sent an email that said CASE CLOSED.
Please help me ensure that no other child has this happen to them.

Now, I don’t know what year model she’s referring to, but her video and comment is of interest as we all expect a seatbelt to work when we slam on the brakes. But what happens upon rear impact?

I know from personal experience—will never forget it as it was the night that news about Sam Kinison’s death was all over the radio—when a car rear-ended me at a red light. I began to jerk forward for sure—but my seatbelt restrained me from having my steering wheel imprint a nice doughnut “O” on my chest. It was a hit and run, so the idiot who did it was never caught, or apprehended.

Be that as it may, I expected my seatbelt to work. And it did.

Chrysler did have a Town and Country recall a number of years ago—in 2005—NHTSA Campaign ID#04V047000—for defective seatbelts. The issue at the time was “After performing the NCAP test, it was discovered that on certain minivans equipped without the available “Stow N Go” seating option, the right front seat belt retractor assembly may have been improperly assembled….As a result the seat belt may not properly restrain the occupant during certain crash conditions, which can increase the risk of injury.”

But no seatbelt recalls since. And a quick check on Town and Country models from the years 2007, 2008, 2009, and 2010 results in only a few reported seat belt complaints with the NHTSA.

Still, a picture (or video) can be worth a thousand words. No, a layperson’s video is not the same as some closed circuit test drive over at Consumer Reports—but by the same token, it does raise an eyebrow.

Thanks, Sarah, for sharing your story.

GOP Whistleblower Site to Keep Tabs on Their Own

January 12th, 2011. By AbiK

And then some.

Call me jaded. Call me skeptical. Call me “oh, ye of little faith”. But I’m guessing most of you out there will call me a realist when you take into consideration that House Oversight Chairman Darrell Issa (R-CA) is running a whistleblower website (see pic; wb-gop-oversight.house.gov/) whereby government insiders and the general public can blow the whistle on perceived (or real) fraud or misconduct—done by anyone regardless of party affiliation.

By the way, for those who don’t breathe, eat, and live this stuff on a daily basis, when we’re talking government fraud, we’re talking “Qui Tam” whistleblower cases. More on what the heck Qui Tam means can be found here on our blog.

I do commend the effort—Issa’s not only got the website going—it’s a form that you can fill out to report government fraud, and of course, while you are required to submit your email address or phone number, all details provided will be “kept in strict confidence”. But he’s out there socializing it as well in an effort to not only be accessible but seemingly more transparent. Go Rep Issa.

According to a post over at TheHill.com, Issa’s also got a twitter account (@DarrellIssa, and yes we (@OnlineLegalNews) follow him) where he responds to tweets shot over in his direction.

[Note to self: given recent requests (er, subpoenas) for info exchanged on Twitter re: WikiLeaks, maybe not ideal to post sensitive info, questions, allegations, or otherwise on Twitter…]

Interestingly too, the article at TheHill.com also has some comments—one’s from a Daniel Haszard who’s a steady commenter here at LawyersandSettlements.com on Zyprexa. Guess it is true we all run in the same circles… But another, from Back Firer, reads “He just opened the door for more crazy people to take their anger out on govenment. This man is on a witch hunt, but the hunt will back fire.” Well, perhaps, but I do agree there will be quite a number of “vent” submissions, and submissions from crackpots, and I pity the fool who’s going to have to moderate it all.

But—I suppose if it does stop even just one act of fraud, maybe it’s worth it.

Again, I do commend Issa’s efforts—but for my money, give me an attorney who specializes in whistleblower litigation. I so want to trust that the powers that be will do the right thing, with zero repercussions or retaliation, but like I said, call me jaded, I just can’t “go there” yet.

What do you think?

Kardashian Kard Lame Launch: Who’d Want One Anyway?

January 12th, 2011. By LucyC

Keeping Up With The Kardashians? Maybe not… The Kardashian sisters, Kim, Khloe and Kourtney are facing a lawsuit over breach of contract with a company that created a prepaid debit card—the Kardashian Kard, designed specifically to be endorsed by the celebrity sisters and draw on their fan base.

An enterprising idea. Perhaps a little too enterprising. The Kard—oops—card—made quite an impact on Attorney General Richard Blumenthal who issued a warning about what he called its “predatory” fees. Predatory lending practices certainly seem to be the theme de jour—and there is long list of credit card companies, banks and mortgage companies facing a laundry list of complaints over unfair business practices.

The Kardashian Card, a pre-paid debit card by Mastercard developed by Revenue Resource Group LLC, would appear to be no exception. In fact, Blumenthal recently described the card as “filled with gotcha fees and charges, such as $99.95 annual fees, $7.95 monthly fees…ATM withdrawal fees, bill pay fees, loading fees—and even charges for talking to a live operator at their service center and a card cancellation fee.” (Fresno Bee)

Given all the bad publicity the card received—and deservedly so—the Kardashians rushed in into face-saving mode and hired a lawyer, who sent a contract termination letter to the debit card company University National Bank, which issued the cards, which pulled the company’s operating license that day. And presto, bingo—you have the makings of a lawsuit.

The suit alleges that the Kardashian sisters, their company Dash Dolls LLC, and their mother, Kris Read the rest of this entry »

Burglar gets in, gets Loaded, gets Stuck

January 11th, 2011. By LucyC

Looks like 2011 is off to a good start in the “are you kidding?” category.

And I’m Wasted And I Can’t Find My Way Home…I really don’t know where to start with this one. A 44-year old would-be—no—make that actual—burglar called the cops because he needed help getting out of the house he was trying to rob.

John Finch of Wilmington, Delaware (that’s him as he appeared on-screen at CBS/Philly news), broke into a house he had in fact broken into before. Not uncommon. However, the homeowner was obviously expecting a repeat performance and had the locks changed. The new security system required a key to unlock doors and windows, from the inside as well as the outside, apparently. So Finch was forced to climb through a window to gain entry. No idea how he figured that out.

Anyway, so far, so good from Finch’s perspective. And the party just got better once he had gained entry—because he discovered a fully stocked bar.

But, all good things must come to an end, as the saying goes. And after Finch had managed to empty three bottles of gin and two of whiskey he decided this party was over with and tried to leave. Not surprisingly, he couldn’t find his way out of the house, and was too drunk to crawl back out the window he had come in through.

So he called 911 for help. Now that would have been an interesting call.

The police came, they saw, and they arrested Finch, for both burglaries, then they took him to the hospital. Inspiring, isn’t it?

Can He Make It 5 For 5? This guy must really need the money. So far he’s robbed four banks in Read the rest of this entry »