Colson Hicks Eidson Files Class Action Lawsuit
Against Toyota
Complaint Alleges Automaker Equipped Cars Knowingly with Defective Electronic Throttle Systems
March 04, 2010 12:34 PM Eastern Time
MIAMI--(EON: Enhanced Online News)--Leading Coral Gables-based trial law firmColson Hicks Eidson filed a
class action complaint in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida on March 3rd on behalf of
Plaintiffs: Sharlene Cohen-Goldberg, Tiffany Jones, Thelma Reid and other Florida and national class members and
similarly situated Plaintiffs against Defendants: Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A., Inc.; Toyota Motor Corporation and
their affiliates, the firm announced today. The complaint alleges the Defendants knowingly designed, manufactured,
distributed and sold certain automobiles equipped with the Electronic Throttle Control System with Intelligence
(ETCS-i) that is defective and can cause sudden unintended acceleration (SUA) of the vehicle engine.
Lewis S. “Mike” Eidson, founding partner at Colson Hicks Eidson, will serve as lead counsel on behalf of the
Plaintiffs. A nationally recognized authority on automotive recalls, Eidson, at age 29, and his partners, tried and won
the first case alleging that the Ford Pinto fuel system was defective. He was also involved in the Chrysler Minivan
latch case that led to the recall of 4 million vehicles, and was national co-lead counsel in the Ford Explorer/
Firestone tire litigation.
According to the suit, the Plaintiffs allege that Toyota and Lexus vehicles equipped with the ETCS-i are defective
and unsafe and are susceptible to incidents of sudden unintended acceleration rendering such vehicles uncontrollable.
The Plaintiffs further allege that the Defendants failed to incorporate important failsafe measures critical to assisting a
driver in maintaining control of the vehicle during a sudden unintended acceleration event. One such failsafe measure
is a computer algorithm that will direct the ETCS-i to automatically reduce the engine to id