Can A Product-Liability Class That Is Full Of Uninjured Members Be Certified?

Keywords: Toyota Prius, anti-lock brake system, ABS,

The answer is a resounding "no," says Judge Cormac Carney of the Central District of California in a recent significant decision in litigation over the third generation Toyota Prius and 2010 Lexus HS250h vehicles (In re Toyota Motor Corp. Hybrid Brake Mktg., Sales Practices & Prods. Liab. Litig. (pdf), No. SAML 10-2172-CJC (C.D. Cal. Jan. 9, 2013).

Judge Carney is presiding over a multidistrict litigation (consolidating five class actions) against Toyota, in which the plaintiffs allege that a defect in the Prius's anti-lock brake system ("ABS") causes increased stopping time and distance when a driver hits the brakes.

The court identified a variety of flaws with the proposed class action, but "most problematic" was the fact that a "substantial majority" of the class members had "never suffered an actual injury that was caused by a manifest defect in the ABS." In part, that was because Toyota established that