Toyota Settles Acceleration Case After $3 Million Verdict

Toyota Motor Corp (7203.T) reached a deal on Friday to resolve a lawsuit in the United States over unintended acceleration issues, one day after a jury found the Japanese carmaker liable and ordered it to pay $3 million for defects that caused a 2007 fatal crash. A jury in Oklahoma on Thursday ordered the company to pay $3 million in compensatory damages to Jean Bookout, a driver injured in the 2007 crash, and the family of Barbara Schwarz, who was killed. Jurors were scheduled to resume deliberating on Friday on whether to award punitive damages against Toyota. Before the jury could reach a decision, Toyota and lawyers for the plaintiffs announced they had reached a confidential settlement to resolve the case.
The lawsuit is one of the first involving acceleration issues to go to trial since similar concerns prompted Toyota to begin in 2009 to recall millions of vehicles.