Tire Manufacturer Fights Wide Access To Records In Defective Tire Suit
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Cooper Tire Company has appealed to the 10th U. S. Circuit Court Of Appeals to fight an order of the lower federal court to produce records relating to the manufacture of tires.
The families of several students of Utah State who died or received personal injuries from a van crash in 2005 have taken their lawsuit, which claims that the crash was caused by defective tires, to a federal court in hopes of catching the internal files of the tire manufacturer.
In January, a Utah magistrate judge rule that scores of documents the Cooper Rubber & Tire Company held could be reviewed by the plaintiffs in their suit against the company.
According to Cooper's attorneys, the scope of the discovery order was "unprecedented" and will force proprietary information, which includes data on tires that are not part of the suit, to be revealed by the company. They told judges that it would require thousands, possibly even millions, of documents from the 89-year history of the company to be produced.
The lawyers for the plaintiffs argued that wide access to the documents was necessary for proof that Cooper either knew or should have known that the tires on the van, as well as similar models, had design flaws. They say the defendants' argument is an attempt to "confuse everybody" through the implication that they want all of the company's files, even though the 1980s would be the earliest period they may need.
The students that were injured and the families of all but one of the students and instructor who died filed suit against Copper and DaimlerChrysler Corp., the manufacturer of the van. Last December, Chrysler and the plaintiffs settled out of court for an undisclosed amount, though it is still awaiting approval from a judge.
According to the suit, the tired had a defect which caused the tread to separate from the tire, which caused the fatal crash.
The outcome of this case will be closely watched by products liability lawyers all over the country because
it is unusual for the courts to allow such extensive discovery.