Japanese car manufacturer Nissan is defending allegations of unfair consumer and business practices, breach of implied warranty and negligent misrepresentations by plaintiffs in Klee v. Nissan, Case No. CV-1208238DDP (PJWx), filed September 24, 2012 in the federal district court for the Central District of California.
Brought on behalf of a proposed class consisting of all California and Arizona consumers who purchased or leased any model year 2011 or 2012 Nissan Leaf, the complaint alleges that the defendant misrepresented facts regarding the battery capacity and driving range. For example, the cars are touted to be able to drive approximately 100 miles without recharging the battery, but many of the plaintiffs experienced a much lower mileage, particularly when the cars are driven in heat. They alleged the car batteries only lasted a little over a year, although Nissan claimed the battery life to be approximately 5 years. (Also remember electric car batteries are much more expensive to replace than those in traditional gas-engine cars.) Nissan denies that the lawsuit has any merit.
This case will likely present a host of electronic discovery issues. To prove their allegations, plaintiffs will need documentation and data on the defective batteries, as well as communications between key employees at Nissan who were responsible for written statements and advertising surrounding the battery life and the car in general. These documents will likely number in the hundreds of thousands, if not millions. And, if any of the data is in Japanese, translating foreign documents could be another challenge for English-speaking plaintiff trial attorneys.
As this class action lawsuit was just filed, we will be updating the electronic data discovery issues in the case as they present themselves. For more information about our plaintiff electronic discovery services, including related foreign document translation services, call us directly at 888-313-4457.