Supreme Court Holds Product Defect Case Not Preempted
Good news today from the United States Supreme Court.
Public Citizen Litigation Group helped to secure another important victory in the fight against broad theories of preemption, used to deny consumers access to the civil justice system. In a decision issued this morning in Williamson v. Mazda, the Supreme Court held that state-law damages claims seeking to hold an automaker accountable for its vehicle-design choices were not barred by federal regulation of motor vehicles.
Thanh Williamson was killed while riding in the second-row aisle seat of a Mazda minivan when it was struck head on by another vehicle. Her seat was equipped with a lap-only seatbelt, which caused fatal internal injuries when the impact of the collision caused her body to jackknife over the belt. After her death, Mrs. Williamson's family brought suit against Mazda, alleging that the van was defective because it lacked a lap/shoulder belt for the aisle seat. When the minivan was manufactured and sold, the relevant federal safety standard allowed but did not require that seat to have a lap/shoulder belt.
The question before the U.S. Supreme Court was whether the Williamsons' damages claims were barred by implied conflict preemption, on the theory that holding Mazda accountable for failing to install a lap/shoulder belt would pose an obstacle to the federal safety standard in effect at the time. In a unanimous decision, the Court held that the claims were not preempted. The case will now return to the trial court, where the Williamsons will have an opportunity to litigate their case on the merits.
The Williamsons' lead counsel in the Supreme Court was Martin Buchanan of the Law Offices of Martin N. Buchanan in San Diego, California. As co-counsel in the Supreme Court, Litigation Group director Allison Zieve worked closely with Martin on briefing and argument preparation. Congratulations to Martin on such a resounding victory in his first appearance before the U.S. Supreme Court.
Read about other Public Citizen Litigation Group cases.
Sincerely,
Allison M. Zieve
Director, Public Citizen Litigation Group
P.S. Our work on precedent-setting litigation is possible only with your support.
