A Georgia judge reduced legal damages against Fiat Chrysler
Automobiles NV stemming from a jury verdict in a trial over a fatal
Jeep fire, providing some financial relief around the same time
regulators hit the auto maker with a record fine for recall
lapses.
Judge J. Kevin Chason on Friday reduced to $40 million from $150
million the damages a jury awarded in April to the parents of a
4-year-old boy who died in a fiery rear-end Jeep crash in
Bainbridge, Ga. The judge also denied Fiat Chrysler's request for a
new trial.
The family's lawyers on Monday agreed to the reduction, leading
to damages of $30 million for Remington Walden's wrongful death and
$10 million for his pain and suffering.
In rejecting Fiat Chrysler's new-trial request, the judge batted
down the company's arguments that jurors acted "from passion and
prejudice" largely because of plaintiff's lawyers tactics.
The Italian-U. S. auto maker suggested it could keep fighting
the case. "The reduction in the damage awards does not cure the
many errors that tainted this verdict and denied [Fiat Chrysler] a
fair trial," a spokesman said in a statement. "We are considering
our legal options."
The judge's order in the case came on the same day Fiat Chrysler
signed a consent order agreeing to a record $105 million penalty
from regulators for lapses spanning nearly two dozen recalls
affecting more than 11 million vehicles, including older Jeeps with
rear gas tanks linked to dozens of fatal fires.
The 1999 Jeep Grand Cherokee in the Georgia case is among more
than a million vehicles with rear fuel tanks subject to a "customer
satisfaction campaign" in lieu of a recall. More than 1.5 million
Jeep Grand Cherokee and Liberty sport-utility vehicles with model
years ranging from 1993 to 2007 are being recalled.
Fiat Chrysler is offering cash to owners of recalled Jeeps to
encourage them to get repairs or money on top of the value of their
vehicle if they decide to trade it in as part of its sweeping
settlement with auto-safety regulators. The company also is
offering cash to owners of 1999-2004 Grand Cherokees as part of the
deal.
The Georgia case arose from a fiery rear-end Jeep Crash in March
2012. Jurors interviewed by The Wall Street Journal said they were
persuaded by a medical examiner's testimony that the Walden boy
survived the Jeep being rear-ended by a pickup truck and later died
from a fire linked to the vehicle's leaking gas tank.
Fiat Chrysler faulted plaintiffs' lawyers for discussing at
trial Chief Executive Sergio Marchionne's income and for suggesting
the company should have been imprisoned instead of the pickup truck
driver who rear-ended the Jeep in the crash that killed the Walden
boy.
The company had called the size of the original damage award
grossly excessive and improperly punitive, seeking to reduce it to
a total of $5 million.
Fiat Chrysler also expressed disappointment that state law
prevented jurors from reviewing data showing other vehicles, many
with similar fuel-tank designs, were more often involved in fatal
fiery crashes.
Judge Chason in his order called the evidence against Fiat
Chrysler "overwhelming" and said jurors were respectful, on time
and attentive.
The judge "saw nothing to indicate, nor has it been presented
with persuasive evidence or argument to suggest, that the jurors
were 'inflamed' or 'irrational,' " he wrote. The judge also
rejected Fiat Chrysler's criticisms of the family's lawyers.
He also rejected suggestions from Fiat Chrysler that he
improperly instructed jurors before their deliberations.
Write to Mike Spector at mike.spector@wsj.com
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