Discovery battle continues in Maserati lawsuit; no ruling from judge after hearing

A discovery hearing ended Monday with no ruling in a suit brought by two Beaumont brothers alleging Maserati North America and a Houston car dealership failed to fix the peeling leather interior of a Granturismo.

As previously reported in October, Elias and Imad Sarkis filed a lawsuit in Jefferson County District Court, claiming they began experiencing problems with their 2009 Maserati Granturismo shortly after they purchased it from Symbol Cars on May 27, 2009.

"Immediately after the car was delivered to the Sarkis home in Beaumont, Jefferson County, Texas, Plaintiffs noticed that the leather interior was peeling away from the inside of the car," the suit states.

According to the complaint, the Sarki brothers returned the car to Symbol for repairs in July, but received it back with no significant repairs performed.

"Representations by Maserati that proper replacement parts were ordered and would be installed, that the car would be repaired, that the warranty would be honored, and that repairs would be promptly and properly effected all proved to be false," the suit states.

A few weeks ago, the brothers filed a motion to compel discovery, stating that they needed "more complete" responses to their interrogatories from both defendants.

A hearing on the matter was held April 11 in Judge Bob Wortham's 58th District Court.

The judge declined to rule on the matter and allotted the parties more time to work out the discovery response disagreement.

The Sarkis are seeking actual, punitive and exemplary damages, plus attorney's fees, pre- and post-judgment interest, costs and other relief the court deems just.

Dana Timaeus of Timeaeus and Rose in Beaumont represent them.

Beaumont attorney Nathan Brandimarte represents the defendants.

Case No. A188-470