Earlier this month, the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania upheld a 2005 class action verdict in the case of Samuel-Bassett v. Kia Motors America on behalf of almost 10,000 Pennsylvania consumers who purchased or leased 1997 – 2000 model year Kia Sephia automobiles. Each member of the class will be awarded $600 for manufacturing defects in the car’s braking system that resulted in increased stopping distance, strong vibration, and premature wear. This works out to a total jury award of over $5.6 million—money that would have otherwise come out of the pockets of these consumers to pay for repairing their vehicles. The class was represented by Alan M. Feldman – who served as lead counsel at trial- and Edward S. Goldis of
Feldman Shepherd, together with Michael Donovan of Donovan Axler, and James Francis of Francis and Mailman. The take-away message from this is simple: sometimes you can fight City Hall, or in this case, a big corporation. If there’s something wrong with your car and the manufacturer refuses to stand behind its product, you can band together with others who have experienced the same problem in a class action. This allows lots of smaller claims to be brought together in a single, large case providing consumers with a powerful voice that they simply could not otherwise have. There is presently a movement among conservatives to limit class actions, and unfortunately they have had some success in restricting access to the courts. We must not allow Corporate America to further deny ordinary citizens the opportunity to exercise their rights through the extraordinary device of a class action.
While the Kia ruling is new, the case has long been in the making. Attorneys filed the original suit in 2001, the case was certified as a class action in 2004, and the trial and jury verdict against Kia occurred in 2005. After the verdict, the trial judge, the Honorable Mark I. Bernstein, wrote that the evidence introduced at trial confirmed that a class action was the most appropriate means to present the class’s claims, that class counsel was able to present the issues to the jury fully, and that the jury was able to decide all issues before them “sincerely, productively, appropriately and justly.”
According to Judge Bernstein, separate trials for the relatively small amounts involved would have placed a strain on the courts and effectively “sealed shut” the doors to the courtroom in violation of the Pennsylvania Constitution, providing a windfall for Kia. From that point until now, the plaintiffs’ attorneys have argued relentlessly throughout the protracted appeals process. Finally, earlier this month, after more than a decade of litigation, Chief Justice Castille of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania authored the 80-page historic decision in this important victory for the rights of consumers. It stands as a warning to auto manufacturers and other companies that there are those willing to fight against large, powerful, well-funded corporations to protect the rights of individual citizens.
Alan Feldman says, “Many contributed to this victory, but I particularly want to commend our client, Shamell Samuel-Basset, for having the courage to bring this case and see it through over 10 long years. Together, we persevered against a corporate opponent that thought it could outlast us. They were wrong. Justice may have been delayed by Kia, but justice was not denied.”
Thanks to the vigilance of these consumers and the hard work of their attorneys, thousands of Pennsylvanians will be receiving checks to compensate them for Kia’s faulty brake pads and rotors that gave out after a few thousand miles, despite Kia’s claim that they should last for 20,000 miles.
If you are one of those who received a notice back in 2004 that you were a member of the class and your address has since changed, or if there is any other important information you wish to communicate to class counsel, please contact Alan Feldman at afeldman@feldmanshepherd.com or Ed Goldis at egoldis@feldmanshepherd.com.
See news about this case on Yahoo Finance:
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/feldman-shepherd-announces-pennsylvania-supreme-174500209.html
Image courtesy of consumerguideauto.howstuffworks.com.
