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Steiner v. General Motors Corp. Perry Steiner and his daughter Amanda brought suit against General Motors after they were involved in a rollover in their 1998 Pontiac Montana. During the rollover, the roof structure of the Montana crushed downward onto Perry and Amanda Steiner, leaving both quadriplegics. Both were wearing their seatbelts and both were seated on the passenger side of the vehicle where the roof crushed. The other three family members were also belted and walked away from the wreck when the roof did not crush over their heads.

Cockrum v. General Motors Corp. The surviving parents of a young man brought suit against General Motors after their son was killed by fire when his motorcycle had an extremely low speed side impact with a GM pickup. Plaintiffs claimed that the GM pickup truck was defective in its design with side-saddle fuel tanks which exploded upon impact. At defendant’s request, the amount of settlement is confidential.

Chamberlain v. General Motors Corp. Brian Chamberlain brought suit against General Motors after he was severely burned by fire when his Chevrolet pickup truck was struck by another pickup, causing an explosion upon impact. Plaintiff claimed the explosion occurred due to punctures and failures of the vulnerable side-mounted fuel tank and vulnerable filler neck of the Chevrolet pickup truck. After the U.S. District Court of Kansas ordered General Motors to disclose the amounts of its prior settlements of similar cases and to reveal the names of GM employees interviewed as a result of an internal investigation into document destruction by the corporation, GM elected to settle the case before the time set for compliance with those Court orders.

Phillips, et al. v. General Motors Corp. Alvin Phillips brought suit against General Motors on behalf of his daughter, Angela Byrd, son-in-law, Darrell Byrd, and grandsons, Timothy and Samuel Byrd. Angela, Darrell and Timothy were killed and Samuel was injured when their Chevrolet pickup truck became engulfed in flames following a collision with a tractor-trailer. Plaintiff claimed the explosion occurred due to punctures to the vulnerable side-mounted fuel tank. After the U.S. District Court of Montana ruled serious sanctions would be imposed against General Motors for its conduct in discovery and found there was a prima facie case that General Motors’ claims of privilege were vitiated by the crime-fraud exception, GM elected not to try the case. At defendant’s request, the amount of settlement is confidential.

Vance v. Midwest Coast Transport, Inc., et al. Plaintiff, a 14-year-old, was a passenger in a vehicle driven by another minor. The minor driver ran into the back of a parked semi-truck Plaintiff’s right arm was almost torn off in the accident and, although saved, was rendered almost useless. Plaintiff claimed that the defendant truck driver violated federal maximum driving hours’ rules, causing him to park in a fatigued state in the middle of a dead-end street. Plaintiff also claimed the driver violated industry standards of care by failing to park in a truck stop, rest area or other secure location and that, at the very least, the truck driver should have utilized hazard flashers or put out reflective triangles. Plaintiff claimed that the defendant employers were responsible for the accident under the theory of respondeat superior and were independently at fault for negligently training and supervising their driver with regard to hours and parking rules.