HOUSTON - The First Court of Appeals recently denied Nissan North America’s petition for writ of mandamus, which challenged a trial court’s Jan. 8, 2024 order compelling production of net worth discovery.
Court records show Deana Rios, representing the estate of Adam Rios, filed suit against Nissan on May 12, 2022.
According to the third amended petition, Nissan had become aware that its 2020 Nissan Titan vehicles were experiencing an electrical issue that was causing a short that in turn was leading to a thermal event in the engine compartment
“By March 12, 2020, Nissan had four Titans experience ‘thermal events’ on the production floor of the factory when the battery was connected,” the suit states. “A Nissan corporate representative has testified that ‘thermal event’ means ‘fire.’
“Despite knowing that the problem was widespread, and that the defect had resulted in vehicles actually experiencing thermal events (which undoubtedly involves the potential for serious injury and/or death), Nissan took no steps to address the Titans manufactured with the defective EGI harness that had already been shipped to dealers.”
The suit states that Adam and Deana did not receive notice of a recall campaign and were unaware that their Titan contained a defective EGI harness.
According to the suit, on April 10, 2022, Adam was commuting to work when his Titan caught on fire. His vehicle was already fully engulfed in flames when he finally extracted himself. He suffered burns all over his body and died because of his injuries on April 25, 2022.
On appeal, Nissan argued that the plaintiff cannot prove gross negligence and that there is no evidence that the company was objectively aware of an extreme risk.
“A trial court may only authorize discovery of a defendant’s net worth if the plaintiff demonstrates a substantial likelihood of success on the merits of a valid claim for exemplary damages,” Nissan argued in its petition.
The First Court of Appeals denied the petition on Jan. 22, court records show.
Appeals case No. 01-24-00052-CV