Welcome to DU! The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards. Join the community: Create a free account Support DU (and get rid of ads!): Become a Star Member All Forums Issue Forums Culture Forums Alliance Forums Region Forums Support Forums Help & Search

TexasTowelie

(111,314 posts)
Mon Oct 20, 2014, 07:07 PM Oct 2014

Federal jury sides with whistle-blower against Dallas-based Trinity Industries; damages over $800M

Source: Dallas Morning News

WASHINGTON — In a case that could trigger a wholesale re-evaluation of the safety of a guardrail system used on highways and interstates across the country, a federal jury in Marshall, Texas found against Dallas-based Trinity Industries Monday, finding that the company knowingly defrauded the government of $175 million since 2005.

Brian Farber, spokesman for the Federal Highway Administration, said Monday’s ruling has triggered a review of whether federal funds can be used to continue buying the guardrail component sold by Trinity, and that a safety review prompted by recent concerns about its performance continues as well.

“The Federal Highway Administration will evaluate the findings of the Trinity case and consider whether it affects the continued eligibility of the ET-Plus,” said Farber, using the brand name for the guardrail cap sold by Trinity. “Separately, the FHWA continues to review the Trinity guardrail service record. We have asked all states to immediately share any crash information involving the Trinity ET-Plus guardrail end terminal. To be clear, our number one priority is safety and we will take a data-driven approach to ensure safety on our highways.”

The actual amount Trinity could owe is much higher. The federal False Claims Act, the statute under which whistle-blower Josh Harman brought his suit, states that a guilty party will pay three times whatever damages are proved at trial, plus in many cases attorneys fees and additional fines that Harman’s lawyers say could top $200 million.

Read more: http://bizbeatblog.dallasnews.com/2014/10/dallas-based-trinity-industries-hit-with-175m-verdict-total-damages-could-near-1-billion-in-guardrail-case-brought-by-whistle-blower-josh-harman.html/



*ETA: Edited headline so that the damage amount was not truncated.
11 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight: NoneDon't highlight anything 5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies
Federal jury sides with whistle-blower against Dallas-based Trinity Industries; damages over $800M (Original Post) TexasTowelie Oct 2014 OP
Everything is big in Texas PeoViejo Oct 2014 #1
"Everything is big in Texas" greiner3 Oct 2014 #10
watch for it to get appealed to a republican kangaroo-court for dismissal belzabubba333 Oct 2014 #2
That's how justice works these days. Always has an "in" prefix. nt valerief Oct 2014 #4
I think if I was a state I would check this, because now it may well be seen as a known jtuck004 Oct 2014 #3
insurance companies and state insurance commissioners vlyons Oct 2014 #5
Harmann isn't exactly a whistleblower Mnpaul Oct 2014 #6
'It locks up and slices into the car.' Sounds horrendous. freshwest Oct 2014 #7
So they file for bankruptcy. malthaussen Oct 2014 #8
Adding a link. mahatmakanejeeves Oct 2014 #9
Virginia to Remove Suspect Guardrails mahatmakanejeeves Nov 2014 #11
 

jtuck004

(15,882 posts)
3. I think if I was a state I would check this, because now it may well be seen as a known
Mon Oct 20, 2014, 07:16 PM
Oct 2014

and deficient product.

Or we use stretched budgets to replace them with no one to recoup the cost from.

Or ignore it and watch people die needlessly, perhaps. I wonder how many crash into these in a year?

vlyons

(10,252 posts)
5. insurance companies and state insurance commissioners
Mon Oct 20, 2014, 07:37 PM
Oct 2014

might have something to say about paying claims when these guard rails are involved in accidents.

Mnpaul

(3,655 posts)
6. Harmann isn't exactly a whistleblower
Mon Oct 20, 2014, 08:02 PM
Oct 2014

It sounds like Trinity ripped him off so he called the feds

Harman, a former competitor of Trinity’s who settled claims that he infringed on its patents, has traveled the country in the past few years visiting crash sites. He alleges that the small changes made by Trinity in 2005 have rendered the guard rails much more dangerous.

That issue–whether Trinity’s changes made the guardrails more dangerous–was not on trial. There are several tort cases brought by crash survivors or the families of victims who have sued Trinity, but those claims were not before the jury in Marshall.

Instead, the seven jurors there were asked a simpler question: Were the changes that Trinity didn’t tell the FHWA about serious enough to mean that the government had paid for something it never actually received.


The end rail is the problem here. Trinity changed its design without notifying the feds. The new design does not absorb the shock as intended. It locks up and slices into the car.
http://www.martinandjones.com/trinity-et-plus-guardrail-lawsuit

malthaussen

(17,066 posts)
8. So they file for bankruptcy.
Tue Oct 21, 2014, 11:45 AM
Oct 2014

The execs get cashing-out bonuses, and the small stockholders get screwed. And meanwhile defective guardrails line the roads and have to be either replaced or ignored.

-- Mal

mahatmakanejeeves

(56,902 posts)
9. Adding a link.
Tue Oct 21, 2014, 12:03 PM
Oct 2014

An illustration here shows how it's supposed to work, and what happens if it does not function as intended.

Highway Guardrails Are Killing Drivers, Says Industry Insider

I do have to add an important disclaimer:

By Patrick G. Lee June 19, 2014

....
Trinity alleges that Harman’s case isn’t about public safety—it’s about payback. In court filings, the company calls Harman an “opportunistic litigant” seeking “to retaliate against Trinity.” Harman can’t claim to be impartial: He and his brother own two small companies in Virginia that once made and installed generic end terminals based on Trinity’s ET-Plus design. In 2011, Trinity sued for patent infringement.

Harman says he believed the patents had expired. Although he stopped making the terminals, Trinity proceeded with its case, saying it wanted to ensure any infringing guardrails were off the roads. The companies reached a confidential settlement in 2012. Harman laid off most of his workforce—more than 100 people—and sought Chapter 11 protection for his companies. His legal bills exceeded $7 million, according to one of his bankruptcy filings.

At the same time Trinity was going after his products, Harman says he started taking a closer look at Trinity’s end terminals, driving to crash scenes all over the country. His quest took him away from his wife and two school-age daughters in Virginia for more than 300 days last year. He says whatever Trinity alleges about his motives doesn’t matter if he’s right that U.S. highways are lined with dangerous guardrails paid for by taxpayers. “It’s irrelevant if I’m crazy.”

Harman has a high-profile ally: Boies, Schiller & Flexner, the law firm founded by David Boies and known for taking on the likes of Microsoft (MSFT) and MasterCard (MA), is representing him in the suit. The firm argues Trinity’s design modifications were more than cosmetic. “The headers are now dangerous, and people are dying,” says Nicholas Gravante Jr., a Boies Schiller partner who’s working on Harman’s case.


mahatmakanejeeves

(56,902 posts)
11. Virginia to Remove Suspect Guardrails
Thu Nov 6, 2014, 02:59 PM
Nov 2014
Virginia to Remove Suspect Guardrails

By AARON M. KESSLER and DANIELLE IVORYOCT. 27, 2014

Adding to pressure on the guardrail manufacturer Trinity Industries, Virginia said on Monday that it planned to remove the company’s products after it failed to meet a state deadline to supply documentation for new crash testing.

Virginia would be the first state to take such an action, going a step further than the 13 other states that have now banned additional purchases of the guardrails. On Monday, Texas became the latest state to stop buying and installing them.

The products, which are called rail heads and are found at the end of the guardrail, are suspected of having a dangerous defect that could lead them to jam, causing guardrails to pierce vehicles.

“We can’t have an unapproved product on our roadways,” Marshall Herman, a spokeswoman for Virginia’s Transportation Department, said. “We’re working as we speak on a plan for removal.”



A 1999 crash test video by the Texas Transportation Institute shows how rail heads, or end terminals, are meant to push guardrails away from a car on impact. Publish date, October 12, 2014.
Latest Discussions»Latest Breaking News»Federal jury sides with w...