Andrews v. AUTOLIV JAPAN, LTD.

• Docket Number: CIVIL ACTION FILE NO. 1:14-CV-03432-SCJ
• Decision Date: 31 December 2021
• Citation: 669 F.Supp.3d 1273
• Parties: Jamie Lee ANDREWS, as Surviving Spouse of Micah Lee Andrews, Deceased, and Jamie Lee Andrews, as Administrator of the Estate of Micah Lee Andrews, Deceased, Plaintiff, v. AUTOLIV JAPAN, LTD., Defendant.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Northern District of Georgia

669 F.Supp.3d 1273

Jamie Lee ANDREWS, as SurvivingSpouse of Micah Lee Andrews, Deceased, and Jamie Lee Andrews, as Administrator of the Estate of Micah Lee Andrews, Deceased, Plaintiff, v.AUTOLIV JAPAN, LTD., Defendant.

CIVIL ACTION FILE NO. 1:14-CV-03432-SCJ

United States District Court, N.D. Georgia, Atlanta Division

Signed December 31, 2021

Gregory Robert Feagle, Ballard & Feagle, LLP, Atlanta, GA, William L. Ballard, Penn Law, LLC, Atlanta, GA, James Edward Butler, Jr., Butler Prather LLP, Columbus, GA, Tedra L. Cannella, Cannella Snyder LLC, Decatur, GA, Rory Allen Weeks, Weeks Law Firm LLC, Suwanee, GA, for Plaintiff.

Douglas G. Scribner, Jenny Ann Hergenrother, William Joseph Repko, III, Keith Robert Blackwell, Alston & Bird, LLP, Atlanta, GA, for Defendant.

FINAL ORDER AND JUDGMENT INCLUDING FINDINGS OF FACT AND CONCLUSIONS OF LAW¹

STEVE C. JONES, UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE

PlaintiffJamie Andrews filed this products liability action in the State Court of Fulton County, Georgia on September 18, 2014.Doc. No. [1-2].²Defendants, including Autoliv, removed Plaintiff's lawsuit to this Court on October 24, 2014.Doc. Nos. [1]; [2].³The case was assigned to Judge William S. Duffey Jr.After Judge Duffey granted summary judgment in Autoliv's favor in January 2017, Plaintiff appealed.Doc. Nos. [274]; [285].On March 16, 2018, the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit reversed, in substantive part, the summary judgment that was entered in Autoliv's favor.Doc. No. [309].On July 23, 2018, the Eleventh Circuit issued its mandate, remanding the case to this Court.Doc. No. [312].Because Judge Duffey retired from this Court on July 1, 2018, this case was reassigned to the undersigned.Doc. No. [313].

By consent of the parties, this case was tried before the Court without a jury on October 4-13, 2021.Doc. Nos. [366]; [498].After examining the evidence, determining the credibility of the witnesses, and considering the arguments of counsel, the Court finds that Plaintiff has proven by a preponderance of the credible evidence that Micah Andrews's injuries and death on April 12, 2013 were caused by a defective seatbelt designed and manufactured by Autoliv.⁴

Accordingly, the Court finds special damages are warranted in the amount of $19,343.40 (Nineteen Thousand Three-Hundred Forty Three Dollars and Forty Cents) for funeral and medical expenses⁵ and general damages in the amount of $2,000,000.00 (Two Million Dollars) for the predeath fright, shock, terror, and pain and suffering that Mr. Andrews endured.⁶

In closing argument, Plaintiff left the amount of predeath fright, shock, terror, and pain and suffering up to the enlightened conscience of the Court.⁷In response, Autoliv did present evidence or argument to dispute that Mr. Andrews suffered predeath fright, shock, terror, and pain and suffering.

The Court finds that damages should be awarded for the full value of Mr. Andrews's life.The full value of Mr. Andrews's life is determined from his perspective and has two components under Georgia law: an intangible component and an economic component.In closing argument, Plaintiff asked that the Court award full value of life damages in an amount of not less than $25,000,000.00.Autoliv did not dispute, by evidence or argument, that the full value of Mr. Andrews's life is at least $25,000,000.00.Based on the evidence, the Court finds that the full value of Mr. Andrews's life is $25,000,000.00 (Twenty-Five Million Dollars).

The Court also finds that Plaintiff has proven by clear and convincing evidence that Autoliv's conduct in designing, manufacturing, and selling the subject seatbelt showed "that entire want of care which would raise the presumption of conscious indifference to consequences."O.C.G.A. § 51-12-5.1(b).As a result, the Court finds that punitive damages should be awarded to "punish, penalize, or deter" Autoliv, not to compensate Plaintiff.O.C.G.A. § 51-12-5.1(c).In closing argument, Plaintiff asked that the Court award punitive damages of not less than $100 million.The Court deems said amount appropriate after consideration of all evidence and applicable law.Accordingly, the amount of punitive damages awarded is $100,000,000.00 (One-Hundred Million Dollars), and said amount is not limited by law because Plaintiff's cause of action is one for products liability.O.C.G.A. § 51-12-5.1(e)(1).⁸

I.FINDINGS OF FACT⁹

A.The Court has subject matter jurisdiction.

PlaintiffJamie Andrews is a citizen of Georgia.She is the widow of Mr. Micah Andrews who died on April 12, 2013.Mr. Andrews was a citizen of Georgia at the time of his death.DefendantAutoliv Japan, Ltd. is a subsidiary of Autoliv, Inc., wholly owned by that corporation.Autoliv, Inc. is publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange.The principal place of business of Autoliv Japan, Ltd. is in Japan.The parties are completely diverse, and this Court has subject matter jurisdiction to hear this case under 28 U.S.C. §§ 1332(a)(2),1441(b).¹⁰

B.Mr. Andrews died in a collision on April 12, 2013.

On April 12, 2013, Mr. Andrews left work at the Georgia Aquarium and headed to his home in Woodstock, Georgia.SeeDoc. No. [503], ¶ 12.He was driving his 2005 Mazda3.Id.His route home took him north on Interstate 575 and through Cobb County.The speed limit on 1-575 North was 65 mph and Mr. Andrews was traveling around that speed on the four-lane divided interstate just before the fatal collision.Id.¶ 2.

While traveling in the right northbound lane, Mr. Andrews came up behind a black Ford F-150.He changed lanes to pass the pickup truck.As he changed lanes back into the right lane, Mr. Andrews engaged in a "hard right-hand steer avoidance maneuver."Buchner testimony, 10/5/21AM Trial Tr.p. 39, lines 2-4.The car left the interstate, crossed the paved shoulder, and entered the grassy shoulder.The grassy shoulder sloped away from the interstate and toward a growth of trees.

Once the car left the interstate, the grassy shoulder and its cross slope made it "very, very difficult" for Mr. Andrews to return his car to the roadway in the remaining territory before encountering trees.Buchner testimony, 10/5/21AM Trial. Tr.p. 21, line 19-p. 22, line 2.Despite steering and braking to avoid a collision, Mr. Andrews's car struck three trees at about 35 mph.SeeDoc. No. [503], ¶¶ 3, 14.The impact's principal direction of force was 10-15 degrees to the left of straight ahead, roughly the 11:30 position on a clock.Id.¶ 15.Although a frontal collision at that speed should have caused the driver's airbag to activate and deploy, the airbag did not deploy.The airbag had been manufactured by Autoliv and sold to Mazda for the 2005 Mazda3.

Despite wearing his seatbelt properly, Mr. Andrews's seatbelt spooled out approximately 20 inches during the collision.Id.¶¶ 1, 13, 17.Mr. Andrews's face struck the steering wheel and the steering wheel collapsed.Id.¶¶ 4, 18.Mr. Andrews's face struck the steering wheel so hard and so fast that the impact caused a basilar skull fracture and permanently imprinted the steering wheel's grip pattern onto his face.Compare PX 3 (steering wheel photo), with PX 2 (medical examiner photo of Mr. Andrews's face postmortem).¹¹The basilar skull fracture led to the death of Mr. Andrews at the scene.Frist testimony, 10/4/21AM Trial Tr.p. 79, line 23-p. 80, line 1.

Mr. Andrews was 38 years old at the time of his death.Doc. No. [503], ¶ 5.Mr. Andrews had an additional life expectancy of 36.18 years.Id.¶ 7.He is survived by his widow, Jamie Andrews, and their daughter, S.C. Andrews, who was four years old at the time of the wreck.S.C. was 12 years old at the time of trial.Id.¶ 6.

1.Mr. Andrews was not at fault for his own injuries and death.

Autoliv has contended that Mr. Andrews was at fault for his own death.But what caused the wreck is not the issue in this case.The issue concerns whether the seatbelt in Mr. Andrews's 2005 Mazda3 failed to protect Mr. Andrews when the wreck occurred as Mr. Andrews did not need a functioning seatbelt (for survival purposes) until there was a wreck.Autoliv's corporate representative David Prentkowski admitted that "this case starts when the car hit those trees because that's when the question arises, who is at fault for the airbag not working and the seat belt not working."Prentkowski testimony, 10/7/21PM Trial Tr.p. 54, lines 19-23.The Court finds that wrecks are foreseeable to Autoliv, that this 35-mph wreck was foreseeable to Autoliv, and that a driver does not need a seatbelt (for survival purposes) unless there is a wreck.

Furthermore, the parties agree that Mr. Andrews would have survived the wreck if his occupant restraint system had functioned properly.SeeDoc. No. [531], ¶ 13.¹²In other words, when Mr. Andrews's Mazda3 went off the road and hit three trees at 35 mph, death was not the likely result of his action.Thus, Mr. Andrews was not the proximate cause of his own death.

For the foregoing reasons, the Court finds that what caused the wreck itself is irrelevant.However, the evidence did convincingly demonstrate that Mr. Andrews left the road because of a sudden avoidance maneuver.There is no evidence that Mr. Andrews was trying to hurt himself, nor is there any evidence that something went wrong with the car to cause it to go off the road.¹³Mr. Andrews was awake and alert before the collision: he passed a Ford F-150 before he steered hard right and braked, and he continued to brake and steer his car after it exited the interstate and before it struck the trees.

The evidence shows it is likely that Mr. Andrews swerved to avoid a very large turtle, some three feet in length.Shortly after the wreck happened, another motorist on I-575 North called 911 and explained: "So I'm on 575 North and this car was just, -- I mean, they, -- God.It was like a box or something in the road.I went over it, but it scared them and they just...