The estate of Adam “DJ AM” Goldstein has settled a lawsuit with Goodyear Tire & Rubber and several other defendants over a 2008 plane crash that killed four and left the disc jockey with burns.
CBp Carbon Industries has released a press statement in response to the August 9 statement published by Fader Technologies LLC. The company states it is "saddened" that it must response to this release, but notes it has done so in order to "correct serious falsehoods and libels and to comfort the Company's stock holders."
Goodyear and US based tyre retailer Big 10 Tire have been informed that they, rather than speed and alcohol, are accountable for a crash that killed one young man and injured two. The Mississippi Court of Appeals has upheld a US$2.1 million verdict against the two companies originally decided upon in autumn 2006.
Details of a Nova Scotia Court of Appeal decision, released November 20, confirm that retired Michelin Canada employee Everett Smith must pay some half of the tyre maker’s legal costs a dispute over pension contributions. The bill Mr. Smith now faces is said to be $300,000 (£160,000).
“As far as the bill, well, I don’t have $300,000,” the former forklift operator told the Chronicle Herald newspaper. “What they are going to do to me, I don’t know. I don’t have a clue. ” The appeals court decision confirms a March 2008 supreme court decision that Michelin did nothing wrong when it took breaks from contributing to the company pension plan between 1984 and 1988 and 1995 and 2001.
News sources including the New Musical Express are reporting that Travis Barker and his deceased friend/bodyguard’s mother have sued Goodyear, who owned the Learjet plane that crashed back in September, along with jet charter companies Clay Lacy Aviation, Global Exec Aviation and Inter Travel Services, and aircraft manufacturer Bombardier Inc. Goodyear spokesman Ed Markey describes the decision to sue, which comes before the conclusion of the National Transportation Safety Board’s investigation, as “unfortunate.”
The lawsuit claims that the crash – which killed four including Charles “Che” Monroe Still Jr. and injured Barker and fellow performer DJ AM – was caused by negligence on the part of the pilots and product defect in the case of Bombardier and Goodyear. According to news sources, Barker is suing variously for pain, psychological distress, suffering, mental anguish, disfigurement and “pre-impact fear of death and burning.”
Although ordered in March 2008 to pay almost CA$300,000 (£156,600) in legal costs for a failed lawsuit against Michelin Canada, Everett Smith is retaining a positive attitude during appeal proceedings. “I feel very confident,” said the former Michelin forklift operator during a break in proceedings at the Nova Scotia Court of Appeal on October 6. “It’s going fairly well, pretty good. We’re fighting a big company.”
TPMS developer SmarTire Systems Inc has settled its previously pending patent infringement lawsuit against Schrader-Bridgeport International Inc. and Schrader Electronics Ltd. The terms of the August 21, 2008 settlement and license agreement between SmarTire and Schrader are confidential, reports SmarTire.
“We are very pleased with both the financial and non-financial aspects of this settlement and regard it as a positive conclusion to the action undertaken just over a year ago,” commented Dave Warkentin, president of SmarTire. “This should positively impact our business as we continue to vigorously defend our intellectual property rights.”
California will soon be lead-wheel weight free, thanks to a new agreement with one major automaker and wheel weight suppliers. Chrysler LLC, the last U.S. carmaker still using lead weights, signed a legal agreement with the California Center for Environmental Health, in which the automaker will stop selling lead wheel weights by the end of 2009.
Joining the agreement were wheel weight marketers Plombco, Hennessy Industries and Perfect Equipment. The agreement brought to a close a lawsuit filed by the CEH against the companies which sought to end the sale and use of lead weights in the state. (Tire Review/Akron)
In a story which brings back memories of the Ford/Firestone recall rows of 2000/2001, an American motorist is suing both Ford and Firestone for damages, following an accident in August 2006.
Terri Franklin was driving in Texas, when the car in front of her – a 1992 Ford Explorer, driven by Shannon Franklin – blew a tyre, showering her with debris. This allegedly caused Terri Franklin to lose control and flip her vehicle.
A number of tyre manufacturers have filed a lawsuit against chemical producers alleged to be members of a cartel operating in the late 1990s and early this decade. According to a report published by Czech Republic newspaper the Prague Daily Monitor, Cooper Tire & Rubber Company Europe Limited and 25 other plaintiffs filed the UK based lawsuit with the High Court of Justice, Queen’s Bench Division, on February 22. The 26 plaintiffs are said to be seeking an unspecified amount of compensation from 23 companies.
One of defendants, Czech group Unipetrol, received notification of the lawsuit in late May. Speaking to the Prague Daily Monitor, a company spokeswoman, Blanka Ruzickova, said: “It is now being analysed by our lawyers, but it is sure that we are going to defend ourselves. The lawsuit is based on an accusation of a cartel agreement that we rejected already two years ago and that we still reject.”
Hunter Engineering recently filed a patent infringement action against Hennessy Industries. On April 30, Hennessy issued this statement:
“Earlier this month, Hunter Engineering filed a patent infringement lawsuit against Hennessy Industries. The suit alleges infringement of Hunter patents relating to a balancing system marketed by Hunter under the SmartWeight brand name.
“Hennessy Industries disputes the merits of the suit, and intends to vigorously defend its right to market EconoBalance (EB) technology in its Coats brand wheel balancers.” (Tire Review/Akron)
This is the relevant portion of the official statement issued by Hunter Engineering regarding its recent patent infringement lawsuit filed against competitor Hennessy Industries:
“On April 7, 2008, Hunter Engineering filed a patent infringement lawsuit against Hennessy Industries, Inc. relating to Hunter US patent numbers 6,952,964 and 7,320,248. These patents involve technology marketed by Hunter as SmartWeight that simplifies the wheel balancing process and significantly reduces the materials necessary to effectively balance wheels, thus reducing the cost to perform proper wheel balancing operations.
“The lawsuit implicates Hennessy’s wheel balancing equipment that includes the ‘Coats EconoBalance’ feature or the ‘Coats EB’ feature.” (Tire Review/Akron)
The United Steelworkers stated on April 15 that Continental Tire North America, (CTNA) has agreed to make US$158 million in payments to a retiree health insurance fund. The settlement is in response to a lawsuit filed by the USW and a number of retirees when CTNA implemented a $3,000 cap on its payments for retiree health coverage, a change that increased monthly health coverage fees for some retirees up to $1000 or more.
“This was an unconscionable attempt by an employer to strip away benefits from retirees who had already paid for them with a lifetime of work,” said USW president Leo W. Gerard. “We couldn’t let that happen, especially given the current shambles of our country’s health care system.” The lawsuit asserted that CTNA’s changes to its retiree health care coverage in April 2007 violated federal law. Last July, Judge Jack Zouhary of the Northern District of Ohio agreed by ruling that the company had no right to reduce or terminate benefits.
The Canadian man who unsuccessfully took Michelin to court over pension fund allegations has been ordered to personally pay half of Michelin’s legal fees. Everett Smith instigated the pension lawsuit on behalf of the Concerned Pension Group, accusing the tyre major of using pension fund surpluses to pay for annual contributions into the fund, but in October 2007 the Nova Scotia Supreme Court ruled that Michelin had fully met its contribution obligations.
Justice Suzanne Hood has now awarded Michelin a reimbursement of costs and disbursements to the sum of $599,377.95, and Justice Hood ruled that Everett Smith must personally pay 50 per cent of these costs – $299,688.97. Michelin states that it will “make every effort to collect these funds from Mr. Smith in accordance with the court’s decision.”
On March 4 SmarTire Systems Inc. announced it had settled the patent lawsuit it filed against Siemens VDO Automotive Corp., now known as Continental Automotive Systems US, Inc. Prior to the February 20 settlement the lawsuit had been pending in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia. The terms of the settlement and license agreement between SmarTire and Siemens have not been disclosed, with SmarTire claiming the information to be confidential. In addition, Siemens has also acknowledged the validity and enforceability of SmarTire’s United States Patent No. 5,231,872 in a judgment that was entered by the district court on February 21, 2008.
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