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Judge Robert B. Kugler of the United States District Court, District of New Jersey, issued an order today appointing Seeger Weiss LLP cofounder Christopher A. Seeger interim co-lead counsel in Sager, et al., v. Key Safety Systems, Inc., et al., which alleges that airbag manufacturer Key Safey Systems and car maker General Motors knew about—but did not report—a common defect in airbags made by one company and installed by the other.
Plaintiffs allege that airbags manufactured by Key Safety Systems, which once did business as Takata Corporation, contain inflators contaminated by moisture. The corrosion caused by this moisture can trigger a deadly defect: they can explode even when the airbags have not been deployed.
According to plaintiffs, both Key Safety Systems and General Motors knew—or should have known—about this dangerous defect but did nothing to alert current or potential GM drivers about it. They also did not take action to remedy it. In 2013, a series of deaths and injuries associated with defective airbag inflactors lead Key Safety Systems to recall an initial 3.6 million cars. Further fatalities caused the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safey Administration to order an even bigger recall, ultimately encompassing tens of millions of cars—the largest automotive recall in U.S. history.
Sager, et al., v. Key Safety Systems, Inc., et al. seeks relief via the repair or replacement of defective airbags in all affected vehicles or via a buyback program that fully reimburses car owners and leasees for their costs and economic losses. The case is pending in the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey.
One of the nation’s preeminent plaintiffs’ law firms, Seeger Weiss is best known for multidistrict mass torts and class actions in both state and federal court. From offices in New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Massachusetts, the firm has represented over 10,000 individuals, companies, and governments across the U.S. who have been injured or defrauded on a massive scale. Since its founding in 1999, it has led many of the most complex and high-profile cases in the country: the National Prescription Opiate Litigation, which the Washington Post called “the largest federal court case in U.S. history”; 3M Combat Arms Earplug Products Liability Litigation, which the Minneapolis Star Tribune called “one of the largest mass torts ever”; the ongoing “Dieselgate” scandal; the sprawling multistate litigation on behalf of survivors of child sexual abuse; and the history-making Football League Players’ Concussion Injury Litigation.