Lawsuit Against Civic Hybrid MPG Claims Back On
Remember the lawsuit filed in California over the 'misleading' fuel economy claims from Honda by an owner of a Civic Hybrid? The ...
https://iskablogs.blogspot.com/2009/01/lawsuit-against-civic-hybrid-mpg-claims.html
Remember the lawsuit filed in California over the 'misleading' fuel economy claims from Honda by an owner of a Civic Hybrid? The lawsuit has been given the green light to proceed by the 4th District Court of Appeal.
The lawsuit was filed by Gaetano Paduano, but was dismissed in 2006. The Appeal court said the Sand Diego County Superior Court judge improperly dismissed the case and in a 2-1 ruling the Appeals Court has put the lawsuit back on track. They did uphold the removal Paduano's breach of warranty claim, however.
"On summary judgment, it is Honda's burden to present evidence demonstrating that a reasonable person could not find that it is more likely than not that Honda's statements are false and/or misleading," Justice Cynthia Aaron wrote. "Honda has not met this burden, since Honda presented no evidence to demonstrate that the claims in its brochure could not mislead a reasonable person, as a matter of law."
The lawsuit still doesn't make much sense to me, since Honda was using the EPA estimates, not their own. But Paduano feels Honda misled him since he couldn't get the EPA estimated mileage without drastically changing his driving habits.
Source: Law.com - Hybrid Owner's Suit Gets Green Light
The lawsuit was filed by Gaetano Paduano, but was dismissed in 2006. The Appeal court said the Sand Diego County Superior Court judge improperly dismissed the case and in a 2-1 ruling the Appeals Court has put the lawsuit back on track. They did uphold the removal Paduano's breach of warranty claim, however.
"On summary judgment, it is Honda's burden to present evidence demonstrating that a reasonable person could not find that it is more likely than not that Honda's statements are false and/or misleading," Justice Cynthia Aaron wrote. "Honda has not met this burden, since Honda presented no evidence to demonstrate that the claims in its brochure could not mislead a reasonable person, as a matter of law."
The lawsuit still doesn't make much sense to me, since Honda was using the EPA estimates, not their own. But Paduano feels Honda misled him since he couldn't get the EPA estimated mileage without drastically changing his driving habits.
Source: Law.com - Hybrid Owner's Suit Gets Green Light
