LITTLE ROCK — Roll-over case lawyer drops Toyota lawsuit
In a victory for Toyota Motor Corp., an attorney has dropped a lawsuit seeking to reopen 17 rollover cases against the automaker based on claims by a former Toyota attorney that the company had hidden key evidence.
Attorney E. Todd Tracy, who represents victims in the roll-over cases, said he asked a federal judge in Marshall, Texas, to dismiss his case Wednesday after being shown documents by the automaker. The judge complied.
Tracy had filed his case after the former Toyota lawyer, Dimitrios P. Biller, filed suit in U.S.
District Court in Los Angeles against Toyota last summer, alleging that it had engaged in a scheme to hide evidence in product liability and injury cases.
Experts have speculated that Biller’s suit, if successful, could lead to dozens of closed Toyota cases being reopened.
Tab Turner, an Arkansas lawyer who handled a number of roll-over cases against Toyota, said he still believes that issues raised by Biller may pertain to his cases
“I’m not convinced there’s no meat on the bones here,” Turner said.
Wal-Mart settles suit
over fondling of girl
COLUMBIA, S.C.
- Court records show Wal-Mart has settled a lawsuit with the family of a girl who was fondled by an employee at a store in South Carolina five years ago.
The State newspaper reported Thursday that Wal-Mart agreed last week to pay the girl an undisclosed sum after she was fondled in 2004 at a store in Orangeburg by an employee who was a registered sex offender.
The newspaper reported that Wal-Mart began conducting criminal background checks on new hires at its stores within weeks of that incident.
A spokesman for Bentonville-based Wal-Mart, Daphne Moore, would not discuss the Dec. 16 settlement. Moore said the matter has been resolved.
Gains by 15 stocks boost Arkansas Index
The Arkansas Index, a price-weighted index that tracks the largest public companies based in the state, gained 0.86 to 170.18 Thursday.
For the day, 15 stocks advanced while three declined.
First Federal Bancshares of Arkansas gained 18 cents, up 7.5 percent.
Windstream Corp.
gained 14 cents, increasing 1.2 percent.
PAM Transportation Services lost 24 cents, down 2.4 percent.
For the week, 16 stocks rose while two fell.
The index was developed by Bloomberg News and the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette with a base value of 100 as of Dec. 30, 1997.
Business, Pages 25 on 12/25/2009