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Over 335,000 vehicles have been a topic of discussion as subjects in the latest vehicle recall. This reinforces the idea that no vehicle is immune to the possibility of a recall. Though, the risk of a recall is less after the vehicle has been on the market for five years or more. This is because the masses have used the vehicles for a long time period, providing ample time for risks not discovered during the design or production process to be discovered and repaired.  The most recent risks are:

The Dodge Caliber and Jeep Compass have been known to create a risk for a sticky pedal that may result in an accident, injury or death. The 2008 and 2009 Dodge Grand Caravans and Chrysler Town & Country Minivans are also part of the recall. These vehicles are associated with risk of fire due to an improperly routed wiring harness which may short circuit. There is another defect in the affected Crystal vehicles. In some vehicles, the front inner fender liner may inadvertently rub against the brake lines, resulting in the risk of a brake line leak, break failure and a crash.

Injury Reports

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If you are or were a Countrywide mortgage holder, you may be at risk of identity theft following a breach in computer security at the firm. The risk has been identified for hundreds of homeowners s who may or may not have received a notice from Countrywide if they have moved. The court has appointed Ben Barnow, Barnow and Associates, P.C., of Chicago, Illinois, and Burton H. Finkelstein, Finkelstein Thompson LLP, of Washington, D.C., as “Co-Lead Settlement Class Counsel”to oversee this class action lawsuit. However, lawyers from across the U.S. may able to represent your interests if you have been a victim of identity theft.

Countrywide has reserved millions to settle cases that they project will be brought against the company for this security breach. Under the current settlement agreement, mortgage holders who had their information stolen by an outside party are entitled to receive the following compensation, but costs may be significantly higher if you are a victim of identity theft. Remember, it is unknown if or when the thieves will attempt to use the mortgage holders’ personal information.  For this reason, it may be wise to contact an attorney to see if you may be entitled to other compensation because once you accept the proposed settlement, you will not be able to file any other lawsuit against Countrywide for this security breach.

The Proposed Settlement Benefits

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Food manufacturers have specific regulations they must follow when providing information on their labels about the contents of their food. Twenty two food manufacturers have recently violated regulations provided in the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act. The crux of the violations include the manufacturers providing information to consumers that falsely identifies the food as being healthy or offering health benefits. There were also false claims made by the manufacturers about the nutritional value of the product. This is why the recall was put into place for twenty two food products.

The FDA has determined that violations surrounding the disclosure of false nutritional content and health benefits pose a risk for consumers in light of the prevalence of obesity and diet related diseases.  The FDA is developing guidelines for labeling of food products to better inform consumers about caloric and nutritional ingredients that are beneficial for health and those that pose a risk to health.

Food labeling helps people to make the appropriate food choices. Over 40 million people are obese and a good majority of the U.S. population is overweight. As people have become more conscientious about food, they have come to rely on the information provided on food labels. The violations related to mislabeling by the twenty two food manufacturers can actually pose health risks for people that relied on the product for that reason.

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Kuuma Stow and Go barbecue grills were reported to cause three fires and minor burns on the hands of victims that were using the barbecue grill. The reported injuries prompted the recall of nearly 5000 grills in the U.S. market. Eastwind Industries, Inc., the manufacturer, cited that propane tanks in Model number 83726 may leak fuel if the fuel container is not fully threaded onto the regulator during installation. This grill recall is only one example of the many product recalls that take place every year.

Manufacturers are responsible to design products in a way that safeguards against risks such as a fire hazard. If the manufacturer is unable to guard against a risk in the development of the product, the manufacturer must display a warning about the risk associated with the product on the product label.  Each year, hundreds of products are recalled because the risk associated with the product is not identified until the product hits the mainstream market and injuries occur. Then, the recall is announced. In some cases thereafter, the product manufacturer redesigns the product to meet safety requirements or adds a warning to the product label. In some cases, the recalled product is banned from the U.S. market.

Eastwind conducted the recall in cooperation with the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission. The Kuuma Stow and Go Grills, made in Thailand, were sold in U.S. nationwide stores from January through August 2009. Eastwind has made available new instructions for the installation of the barbecue grill parts and will provide a new tool to use when cleaning the fuel system.  This remedy is considered acceptable at this time, according to Consumer Product Safety Standards.

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In February of 2010, Ormat concluded that the company’s 2008 financial statements required restatement and that current statements were unreliable. This occurred because capitalized costs for exploration and development of select properties that the company did not plan on developing were suspected to be improperly calculated into financial equations.  Once this information became public, Ormat stock declined by nearly 13% over a three day time period. Lawyers are investigating potential claims that Ormat directors and/or executives failed to fulfill the Company’s fiduciary responsibility which has caused financial harm to stock holders.

Questionable breaches of fiduciary duty have been a topic of discussion for Comcast as well.  An ERISA class action lawsuit was recently filed on behalf of nearly 90,000 Comcast employee stock plan participants with the allegation that Comcast executives projected unreasonable company growth, despite knowledge that there were reasons in the competitive market which would impact Comcast’s projected growth.

Fiduciary duty is outlined in the Employee Retirement Income Security Act. It is not known if a class action lawsuit will be filed against Ormat Technologies at this time. Lawyers are merely in the discovery stage of an investigation to identify the possibility of any company wrong doing. Ormat shareholders may be entitled to financial compensation for the damage sustained due to the company’s failing to perform fiduciary duties. Yet, a lawsuit must be filed against Ormat technologies before this occurs. A lawsuit against Ormat Technologies will not occur until claims have been identified as valid by lawyers and a federal judge agrees that a lawsuit may be filed.

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An ERISA class action lawsuit was filed on behalf of nearly 90,000 Comcast employee stock plan participants because of an alleged breach in fiduciary duty by the company’s failure to make “reasonable” investments. Total plan assets were over $2 billion in 2006 and roughly $293 million consisted of Comcast stock.

The fundamental contention in the lawsuit dates back to 2007 predictions of Comcast executives who projected that the company would do very well in that year, despite knowledge of competitors’ bonus programs that could significantly reduce Comcast revenue. The Comcast executives’ projection drove stock prices up creating a false inflation of stock prices.  Consequently, Comcast employees suffered losses because a significant portion of their investments were in Comcast stock.  Comcast’s stock price plummeted from a high of over $28 in February to $18 plus in December.

The lawsuit was granted in federal court because of premises identified in the Employee Retirement Income Security Act. One of the highlights during initial arguments was that a lawsuit is not justifiable when an employee signs a release or leaves the company.  However, the Judge determined that ERISA provides for a continuing duty to review plan holdings and divest imprudent fund plans. So, if Comcast failed to exercise duty, then they have committed a wrongdoing.  Over the course of the next months, facts surrounding the case will be heard in court to identify if any wrong doing occurred on the part of Comcast.

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Toyota has agreed to pay $16 million in penalties after the government contended that Toyota knowingly refrained from disclosing the sticky gas pedal defect to the public and did not take action to protect the public from harm. Toyota’s agreement does not mean that the company admits to wrongdoing. However, the company accepted the $16 million penalty within a 24 hour time period. The next legal cases will be those of people that were injured or died because of the sticky gas pedal. Personal injury lawyers are preparing their legal cases against Toyota nationwide. In fact, over 150 lawyers recently gathered in San Diego to bring attention to the high number of reports of people injured by Toyota’s sticky gas pedal.  Lawyers may contend that Toyota committed fraud and racketeering in a conspiracy to mislead the government and consumers. People that have been injured because of a sticky gas pedal on a Toyota vehicle may be entitled to financial compensation for their injuries, including: lost wages, medical expenses and pain and suffering.  Toyota owners that have lost value in their vehicles because of the extensive recalls may also be entitled to financial compensation.

The Latest Recall: Sienna Mini Vans

Toyota Sienna Mini Vans (1998-2010), totaling 600,000 vehicles, were the latest Toyota recall Toyota model to come to the forefront. The reason for the recall relates to the risk that the spare tire carrier cable can corrode following exposure to road salts. This poses a risk that the cable will fail, leading to the spare tire dismounting from the minivan and a possible car accident. The Sienna Mini Vans are added to the millions of other Toyota vehicles that have been recalled since October of 2009.

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Guidant, LLC, maker of a cardiac defibrillator, pled guilty to criminal violations of the Food and Dug Administration Cosmetic Act which requires that medical device companies disclose risks of serious injury and death that are associated with their products. The Guidant defibrillator was used in cardiac surgery to produce a shock to restart the heart when the device detects that the heart fails.  Guidant apparently was aware that there were short circuit failures in their Ventak Prizm 2 DR (Model 1861) and the Contak Renewal (Models H135 and H155), but failed to disclose this information to the proper authorities or the public.

The FDA’s Office of Criminal Investigations spent four years investigating this case before determining that criminal allegations must be brought against the manufacturer. The affected Guidant defibrillator models were designed to detect and treat irregular heart rhythms, but when they fail due to short circuiting can result in sudden death momentarily. In the end, Guidant admitted to making a false statement about the Ventak Prizm 2DR device and failing to notify the FDA that the company made a correction to the Contak Renewal devices in order to reduce the risk of sudden death.

Guidant, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Boston Scientific Corporation, has now been presented with the largest criminal penalty imposed on a medical device company that failed to meet FDA requirements in the Cosmetic Act.

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Stuffed animals, rain ponchos and play jewelry are some of the Toy products that Daiso California LLC had been selling before a recall. The risks associated with their products included strangulation from the rain ponchos, lead poisoning from the jewelry, and choking from the stuff animals.

Since Daiso California LLC has violated federal safety laws, the company has been forced to cease importing children’s toys to the U.S. and must pay fines in excess of $2 million.

The CPSC has a list of safety standards and testing requirements that toy vendors must abide to in order to sell children’s toys in the U.S. Toy companies must also place proper warning labels on their toys so that parents are aware of the risks for children using the toys. However, sometimes the risks are omitted from the label or the manufacturer fails to perform proper testing to identify the risks relating to their toys. Toy manufacturers may also provide a label that informs the parent of the appropriate age of a child to use the toy. This is often done because there is some kind of risk that would apply to a child’s use of the toy that is out of the age bracket identified on the label.

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Paternity rights in Indiana have been leveraged for fathers effective July 1, 2010, based on a new Indiana law ( Indiana Code 16-37-2-2.1).  Currently, when a child is born out-of -wedlock, Indiana law allows for the establishment of paternity by the filing of a Petition to Establish Paternity or the signing of a paternity affidavit by both parents.  Assuming that the paternity affidavit is properly signed and all Indiana Code Requirements are met, the mother has sole and physical custody, while the father is entitled to “reasonable parenting time”.   This means that the child lives with her mom and the mom also makes all decisions concerning health care, education, and religious upbringing.

Pursuant to the new statute regarding paternity rights, the child will still live with the mother.  However, the parties can agree to share joint legal custody.  In other words, the father and mother will jointly make decisions concerning healthcare, education and religious upbringing.  Both parents will have equal access to school and medical records.

This paternity right statute does not mention what happens when there are disagreements between parents concerning, education, health care and similar decisions that may occur sometime in the future.  However, in non- affidavit cases, if the parties disagree and cannot resolve their disagreements, the parties can petition the court to modify custody so that one parent has sole custody and will make all decisions.  In all likelihood, the same procedure will apply under this statute.

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