Reclined Seat Cases
A typical automobile passenger would never suspect that simply reclining her seat could result in catastrophic injuries or death. However, automakers have known for years that reclining your seat renders your seat belt almost completely ineffective and can have horrible results in crashes. Langdon & Emison has been at the forefront of this issue.
The cases below are only a few of the reclined seat cases that our lawyers have brought against manufacturers. For more information on the reclined seat danger, see the links below:
 Reclining Seats Trade Safety For Comfort article |
 Reclined Seats (Kumar) video |
 When Safety Belts Fail article |
|
|
CASE NAME
|
TYPE OF CASE
|
SYNOPSIS
|
|
Kumar v. Toyota |
$59 million verdict |
Mr. Kumar was riding in the front seat of a Toyota passenger vehicle with his seat reclined when the vehicle was involved in a frontal collision. Both Mr. Kumar and his seat flew forward at the time of impact. Kumar received serious injuries that resulted in the amputation of both of his legs. The jury awarded Kumar $59 million, which set a new record verdict in Maryland, breaking Langdon & Emison’s previous $26 million record verdict. Click Here to view a news video about this case and the reclined seat danger. Click Here to view the Missouri Lawyer’s Weekly article about this case. Click Here to view an article about this case published in The Daily Record. |
|
Reclined Seat $16.94 million verdict |
Tami Martin, a young woman from Florida was rendered a paraplegic in a low speed collision because her seat back was reclined while she was traveling in a Ford Windstar minivan. A Jacksonville, Florida jury agreed that Ford should have warned Tami of this danger and awarded her $16.94 million. Click Here to view a news article about this case. |
|
|
Lee v. GM |
Reclined Seat / Defective Seat Belt / Defective Door Latch Confidential Settlement |
Olympic bobsledder, Steven Lee, was returning from the Winter Olympic games in Utah to his home near Chicago, Illinois. While driving through Iowa, the driver of the GM pickup truck lost control of the vehicle on an icy patch of road. Steven was sleeping with his seat reclined. The driver of the pickup walked away uninjured, but Steven was thrown from the vehicle when his door opened and his seat belt became completely ineffective. Steven suffered severe internal and brain injuries. This case resulted in a confidential settlement. |
