WASHINGTON — Toyota and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration will come under the microscope again on Tuesday in appearances before the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science & Transportation. The lawmakers will continue to look into Toyota's massive recalls and the government's response.
In the meantime, the chairman of the House Oversight Committee has announced that a review of documents under subpoena from a former senior lawyer at Toyota indicate the automaker deliberately withheld records that it was legally required to produce. "Many of these documents concern 'rollover' cases in which a driver or passenger was injured, including cases where victims were paralyzed," wrote House Oversight Committee Chairman Edolphus Towns (D-New York).
The committee contends that it "now has evidence that Toyota entered into multimillion-dollar settlements in tort cases where they feared that the plaintiff's lawyer was getting close to discovering the existence of the [documents]." Towns wrote that "people injured in crashes involving Toyota vehicles may have been injured a second time when Toyota failed to produce relevant evidence in court."
Toyota responded to the accusations by saying "it is not uncommon for companies to object to certain demands for documents made in litigation. 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 and our discovery practices and look forward to addressing Chairman Towns's concerns."
Towns is asking for a response from Toyota by March 12 in response to the charge of withholding documents.
In the meantime, the Senate gets a crack at NHTSA officials and Toyota on Tuesday. The Tuesday hearings will be noteworthy because of a scheduled appearance by David Strickland, the NHTSA administrator who was absent from last week's congressional hearings. U.S. Transportation Secretary Raymond LaHood said last week that he was testifying in place of Strickland. "Mr. Strickland has been on the job [for] 40 days," LaHood told lawmakers. "I'm not going to have our administrator appear. I'm taking responsibility for this. I'm going to be accountable."
Also on deck for Tuesday's hearings is Clarence Ditlow, the executive director of the Center for Auto Safety, a watchdog organization. Three Toyota executives, including Yoshimi Inaba, the president and CEO of Toyota Motor North America, will also testify.
Toyota will also report February sales this week. The Japanese automaker is expected to be one of only two automakers — including Chrysler — that are expected to report a drop in sales for February. Edmunds.com sees Toyota's market share dropping to 12.6 percent in February, its lowest level since July 2005.
Inside Line says: More congressional hearings in store on Tuesday as Toyota and NHTSA continue to take a pounding on Capitol Hill. — Anita Lienert, Correspondent
Add A Comment »
paul_r says:
05:29 AM, 03/02/2010
More evidence that Toyota is an unethical company. This has been going on for at LEAST 10 years. Now we see the they are ignoring legal requirements when they are defendants in court case. They are manipulating the regulatory process and the legal process.
They are NOT an ethical company and should be held accountable. To the American public, do not accept their empty apologies because their history of subversive actions shows that they are a lying company!
jeremy_c says:
04:48 PM, 03/01/2010
showman, thanks for shedding light on this. Very confusing for someone like me who gets the legal knowledge from TV shows. What about the 5th Amendment? We seem to see everyone from Colonel Oliver North to mobsters hiding behind that one? I do understand that once someone enacts the Fifth, it pretty much tells the world that they are guilty
showman says:
02:40 PM, 03/01/2010
And a congressional subpoena is very powerful. I don't think privledge applies there...
showman says:
02:37 PM, 03/01/2010
Communication between attorney and client are privileged, except in certain conditions. You can't tell an attorney that you are going to harm someone and expect it to be confidential. You cannot use an attorney to commit an illegal act and hide behind privilege.
A defendant is required to respond to discovery. In a civil matter, you can be subpoenaed to a deposition where you would be examined under oath. Your attorney object to specific questions, but generally you'll be required to answer.
If documents are subpoenaed, you must produce them. If they are privileged, confidential, or trade secrets you can go to court and object to the document request, but most likely you will not succeed. You would be able to obtain protective orders before surrendering the documents. These orders would control who may see the documents and that their content may not be disclosed without further order from the court.
It is not acceptable to just withhold the documents or deny their existence. If you are caught doing that the sanctions can be severe.
jeremy_c says:
01:37 PM, 03/01/2010
I thought communication between a client and their attorney is privileged, meaning it cannot be used against them in a court of law or be subpoena? This is quite basic legal knowledge. Can Congress override that basic protection? They are also saying Toyota withheld information in a lawsuit. Since when is a plantiff required to disclose everything that can be used against them? I thought we all have the right to remain silent and people have the right to take the 5th Amendment. Is there a lawyer here who can explain this. I am genuinely perplexed?? :o