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GM hit with $14M
verdict for failure to warn
The National Law
Journal
February 7, 2000
CASE TYPE: Products
Liability
CASE: Golonka v. General Motors Corp.,
No. CV98-1 1010 (Super.
Ct., Maricopa Co., Ariz.)
PLAINTIFFS’ ATTORNEYS:
Robert W. Boatman and Adam A. Studnicki, of Phoenix’s Gallagher &
Kennedy P.A.
DEFENSE ATTORNEYS:
James R. Condo and Andrew R. Hataby, of Phoenix’s Snell & Wilmer L.L.P
JURY VERDICT: $17
million, reduced to $14.2 million
ON APRIL 17, 1997, Ruth Golonka, then 67, stopped
her 1987 General Motors Sierra pickup truck in Scottsdale, Ariz., to
load some lawn chairs into the bed of the truck. Ms. Golonka shifted the
transmission into park but didn’t turn the motor off, said her attorney
Robert W. Boatman. As she loaded the chairs into the bed, the truck’s
transmission shifted into reverse and lurched backward, he said. The
pickup ran over Ms. Golonka and killed her.
Her husband and adult children sued General Motors
Corp., charging that the Sierra’s transmission was negligently designed
and that GM could have used a safer design but had "decided it would
cost too much money," alleged plaintiffs’ attorney Adam A. Studnicki.
The plaintiffs also
charged GM with failing to warn drivers of the danger of leaving motors
idling while in park, he said. GM, Mr. Boatman said, has received "more
than 2,000 reports of similar incidents," leading to more than 100
lawsuits. After the Golonka accident, he said, "Scottsdale police tested
this vehicle six times, and every time it shifted into reverse when they
dropped the tailgate."
GM denied any defects
in the transmission or any failure to warn. The company contended that
Ms. Golonka was at fault for the accident for failing to shut off the
motor and for failing to completely engage the transmission into park.
On Dec. 17, a Phoenix
jury found no design defect but did find a failure to warn. The jury
awarded the Golonkas $17 million, including $10 million in punitives. On
the jury’s finding that Ruth Golonka was 40% at fault, the judgment was
reduced to $14.2 million.
Reprinted with
permission of The National Law Journal. |
