Ex-Toyota attorney's info subpoena-ed by Congress
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From: Snow Belt, PA
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From: Cheektowaga, NY (Buffalo)
I agree that there appears to be plenty of "probable cause" to search further. This former attourney of theirs has been trying to get this information out there but was blocked from doing so previously. He has to personally be loving this seeing as how he was sued by Toyota and now he finally gets to expose their dirty laundry.
America loves to build people up and then tear them down. Toyota is entering phase two. Phase 3 is the lawyer written, phony apology and Phase 4 is America moving on and kinda forgetting it happened. Tiger Woods is about 2 months ahead of Toyota right now in this cycle having just delivered his phony apology today.
America loves to build people up and then tear them down. Toyota is entering phase two. Phase 3 is the lawyer written, phony apology and Phase 4 is America moving on and kinda forgetting it happened. Tiger Woods is about 2 months ahead of Toyota right now in this cycle having just delivered his phony apology today.
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Joined: Nov 2001
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From: Newhall, CA USA
. . . no, wait--it was Toyota that actually hired NHTSA officials to block investigation into their defective products over the last decade, and lobbied congress and states successfully for special dispensation to build plants here over the past twenty or more years.
Yes, it's a terrible reflection on our corrupt government. But the current investigation into Toyota is well-deserved, and has nothing to do with GM or Chrysler.
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From: Toronto, ON Canada
This time, there are reasons. 19 documented fatalities.
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From: Toronto, ON Canada
So, just to throw this out there...
Do some of you think that there is disproportionate bias against Toyota at present?
Do you still think there was NO bias against domestic automakers 5-10 years ago?
Do some of you think that there is disproportionate bias against Toyota at present?
Do you still think there was NO bias against domestic automakers 5-10 years ago?
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Joined: Oct 2006
Posts: 654
From: Snow Belt, PA
It's an opinion that's way out of whack.
The government didn't buy GM as an investment. It bailed the company out to save hundreds of thousands of jobs and prevent the economy from becoming twice as bad as it already is. They didn't put that money down on GM to get a good ROI. The documents should be brought front and center. If they want to make money and become multi-billionaires off of our citizens then they should be held accountable for their mistakes and misjudgements. It comes with the territory. People act like nobody should do anything and we should let a foreign company do whatever they please and suck as much money as they can out of this country without any associated responsibilities. If you want to come do business here, you play by our rules, not yours.
The government didn't buy GM as an investment. It bailed the company out to save hundreds of thousands of jobs and prevent the economy from becoming twice as bad as it already is. They didn't put that money down on GM to get a good ROI. The documents should be brought front and center. If they want to make money and become multi-billionaires off of our citizens then they should be held accountable for their mistakes and misjudgements. It comes with the territory. People act like nobody should do anything and we should let a foreign company do whatever they please and suck as much money as they can out of this country without any associated responsibilities. If you want to come do business here, you play by our rules, not yours.
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Joined: Jan 2000
Posts: 1,512
From: Miami, FL, US
it's an opinion that's way out of whack.
The government didn't buy gm as an investment. It bailed the company out to save hundreds of thousands of jobs and prevent the economy from becoming twice as bad as it already is. They didn't put that money down on gm to get a good roi. The documents should be brought front and center. If they want to make money and become multi-billionaires off of our citizens then they should be held accountable for their mistakes and misjudgements. It comes with the territory. People act like nobody should do anything and we should let a foreign company do whatever they please and suck as much money as they can out of this country without any associated responsibilities. If you want to come do business here, you play by our rules, not yours.
The government didn't buy gm as an investment. It bailed the company out to save hundreds of thousands of jobs and prevent the economy from becoming twice as bad as it already is. They didn't put that money down on gm to get a good roi. The documents should be brought front and center. If they want to make money and become multi-billionaires off of our citizens then they should be held accountable for their mistakes and misjudgements. It comes with the territory. People act like nobody should do anything and we should let a foreign company do whatever they please and suck as much money as they can out of this country without any associated responsibilities. If you want to come do business here, you play by our rules, not yours.
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Joined: Apr 2004
Posts: 1,881
Its a stupid argument thats being pushed by Govs who's states have a vested intrest in Toyota. Its irresponsible and proves that GM's claim they were on an uneven playing field the whole time is true. When the show was on the other foot everyone lined up to file a lawsuit. Just shows Americas bias against American companies. Its not just automotive, its tech and all other industries.
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From: North of Cincy
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From: Cheektowaga, NY (Buffalo)
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From: North of Cincy
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From: Charleston, WV
House panel calls Toyota whistleblower documents 'troubling'
David Shepardson / Detroit News Washington Bureau
Washington -- A House panel says documents obtained from a former Toyota Motor Corp. "whistleblower" lawyer are troubling, and it wants the Japanese automaker to respond.
House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Ed Towns, D-N.Y., said documents obtained under subpoena from former Toyota lawyer Dimitrios Biller "indicate Toyota deliberately withheld records that it was legally required to produce in response to discovery orders in litigation.
"Many of these documents concern 'rollover' cases in which a driver or passenger was injured, including cases where victims were paralyzed," Towns said.
A Texas court had blocked Biller from releasing the documents, but the subpoena from Congress superseded that ruling.
Toyota has rejected the claims of Biller, who was managing counsel in the product liability group of Toyota Motor Sales USA from April 2003 to September 2007.
"Toyota takes its legal obligations seriously and strives to maintain the highest professional and ethical standards in its legal and regulatory practices. It is not uncommon, however, for companies to object to certain demands for documents made in litigation," spokeswoman Cindy Knight said Friday. "Consistent with that philosophy, we take appropriate steps to maintain the confidentiality of competitive business information and trade secrets. We are confident that we have acted appropriately with respect to product liability litigation."
Biller has accused Toyota of trying to hide "evidence of safety defects from consumers and regulators, and fostered a culture of 'hypocrisy and deceit,' " Towns said.
The records include a memo, authored by Biller to his superiors at Toyota, noting that Toyota failed to produce e-mails or other electronic records in response to discovery orders. Additionally, the committee has found multiple references to secret "Books of Knowledge" that were kept in electronic form, in which Toyota engineers kept their design and testing data across all vehicle lines and parts.
The internal memorandum dated Sept. 1, 2005, is titled "A Serious Need to Get Documents/E-Discovery From TMC."
The committee said it has evidence that Toyota entered into multimillion dollar settlements in civil cases when they feared that the plaintiff's lawyer was getting close to discovering the existence of the "Books of Knowledge."
Towns wrote Yoshimi Inaba, Toyota's North American chief, on Friday asking him to respond to the Biller documents and the serious issues they raise.
"In sum, the Biller documents indicate a systematic disregard for the law and routine violation of court discovery orders in litigation. People injured in crashes involving Toyota vehicles may have been injured a second time when Toyota failed to produce relevant evidence in court," Towns wrote.
"Moreover, this also raises very serious questions as to whether Toyota has also withheld substantial, relevant information from NHTSA."
Towns wants Inaba to respond by March 12. Knight said the company would respond.
David Shepardson / Detroit News Washington Bureau
Washington -- A House panel says documents obtained from a former Toyota Motor Corp. "whistleblower" lawyer are troubling, and it wants the Japanese automaker to respond.
House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Ed Towns, D-N.Y., said documents obtained under subpoena from former Toyota lawyer Dimitrios Biller "indicate Toyota deliberately withheld records that it was legally required to produce in response to discovery orders in litigation.
"Many of these documents concern 'rollover' cases in which a driver or passenger was injured, including cases where victims were paralyzed," Towns said.
A Texas court had blocked Biller from releasing the documents, but the subpoena from Congress superseded that ruling.
Toyota has rejected the claims of Biller, who was managing counsel in the product liability group of Toyota Motor Sales USA from April 2003 to September 2007.
"Toyota takes its legal obligations seriously and strives to maintain the highest professional and ethical standards in its legal and regulatory practices. It is not uncommon, however, for companies to object to certain demands for documents made in litigation," spokeswoman Cindy Knight said Friday. "Consistent with that philosophy, we take appropriate steps to maintain the confidentiality of competitive business information and trade secrets. We are confident that we have acted appropriately with respect to product liability litigation."
Biller has accused Toyota of trying to hide "evidence of safety defects from consumers and regulators, and fostered a culture of 'hypocrisy and deceit,' " Towns said.
The records include a memo, authored by Biller to his superiors at Toyota, noting that Toyota failed to produce e-mails or other electronic records in response to discovery orders. Additionally, the committee has found multiple references to secret "Books of Knowledge" that were kept in electronic form, in which Toyota engineers kept their design and testing data across all vehicle lines and parts.
The internal memorandum dated Sept. 1, 2005, is titled "A Serious Need to Get Documents/E-Discovery From TMC."
The committee said it has evidence that Toyota entered into multimillion dollar settlements in civil cases when they feared that the plaintiff's lawyer was getting close to discovering the existence of the "Books of Knowledge."
Towns wrote Yoshimi Inaba, Toyota's North American chief, on Friday asking him to respond to the Biller documents and the serious issues they raise.
"In sum, the Biller documents indicate a systematic disregard for the law and routine violation of court discovery orders in litigation. People injured in crashes involving Toyota vehicles may have been injured a second time when Toyota failed to produce relevant evidence in court," Towns wrote.
"Moreover, this also raises very serious questions as to whether Toyota has also withheld substantial, relevant information from NHTSA."
Towns wants Inaba to respond by March 12. Knight said the company would respond.
