Case Evaluation

Recalls and Class Action Verdicts: Williams v. Reading Anthracite Company

Williams v. Reading Anthracite Company

RESULT: $ 7.8 million jury verdict, which included $ 500,000 for Margaret A. Williams for loss of consortium.

The jury found Mercedes-Benz 60 percent responsible, Carson-Pettit, the selling dealer, 30 percent responsible, Reading Anthracite Corporation 9 percent responsible, and James J. Curran, individually, 1 percent responsible for plaintiffs' harm.

STATE: Pennsylvania

SUMMARY: The Mercedes defendants manufactured and sold a 1979 Mercedes-Benz 350 SL 6.9 automobile. At the time of sale, the throttle assembly rod contained a plastic bushing that eventually deformed due to the proximity of the rod to the catalytic converter. When the bushing deformed, the vehicle was thrown into uncontrollable acceleration, and at the time of the accident was accelerating at speeds in excess of 100 miles per hour. Defendant Mercedes-Benz had sent out a recall notice for the vehicle and the Mercedes-Benz dealer, Carson-Pettit, contacted Reading Anthracite Corporation and the possessor of the vehicle, James J. Curran, Jr., requesting that the recall be performed. Plaintiffs alleged that as a direct result of the recall not being performed and of the product defect, Plaintiff Frank C. Williams, Jr., suffered catastrophic injuries.

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