ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, July 17, 1996 TAG: 9607170033
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: B-7 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: WASHINGTON
SOURCE: Associated Press
CHRYSLER sought to keep Paul Sheridan's deposition under court seal. More than 130 people have been thrown from the back of the minivans during crashes, and 35 died, according to a government database of consumer reports.
Years before a recall of more than 4 million Chrysler minivans, company engineers considered the liftgate latches to be flimsy compared with other minivans, a fired Chrysler employee testified in a lawsuit.
``The group [of liftgate latch engineers] was generally aware of what we considered to be somewhat of a flimsy latch design vis-a-vis the competition,'' the former employee, Paul Sheridan, said in a deposition for a Texas lawsuit.
By early 1992, ``we unanimously agreed that we needed to improve our liftgate latch,'' Sheridan said in the 239-page deposition.
But it was not until spring 1995 that Chrysler asked 4.3 million owners of 1984-1995 Chrysler Town & Country, Dodge Caravan and Plymouth Voyager minivans to bring them in for free installation of a stronger liftgate latch.
More than 130 people have been ejected from the rear of the minivans during crashes and at least 35 of them died, according to a government database of consumer reports.
Sheridan was a product planner for Chrysler. From 1993 through 1994 he coordinated a safety leadership team made up of engineers and other employees.
Chrysler had sought to keep Sheridan's deposition under court seal in the Palestine, Texas, lawsuit but the seal was lifted at the close of business Friday.
``The Sheridan deposition confirms that Chrysler knew its liftgate latches were dangerous, were weaker than the competition - but Chrysler did nothing about it and exposed millions of consumers to the risk of ejection,'' said E. Todd Tracy, a Dallas lawyer representing nine people in Texas and Oklahoma suing Chrysler over the minivan latch.
Chrysler spokeswoman Lori McTavish said that Chrysler would try to protect competitively sensitive business information, including statements that ``create an inaccurate and unwarranted portrayal of the company's position on safety matters.''
Chrysler officials long have said the minivans are safe. Negative publicity about the latches, they said, prompted the company to conduct a ``service campaign'' to ensure public confidence in the latches.
The court documents also challenge Chrysler's claim that their liftgates would never pop open during road use.
One Chrysler document said a Flint, Mich., man with a 1994 minivan complained that his liftgate had opened spontaneously on four occasions. And there were letters to a rental car business in Florida from four customers who said their liftgates had popped open while they were driving.
Court documents in the lawsuit show other companies with minivans were using a dual-stage latch that has a primary and secondary latch, while Chrysler had a single latch.
Sheridan said the safety leadership team recommended that Chrysler make a dual-stage latch for its minivans. But Chris Theodore, an executive engineer on the minivans, rejected the idea in 1993 because a change would ``indict'' the previous latch, Sheridan said.
In February 1994, Sheridan said he brought it up again, saying the dual-stage latch would be good for competitive reasons.
``The exact quote from Mr. Theodore - and I'll never forget it - was: `That ship has sailed. We told you that last time,''' Sheridan said. He was told later that the safety team would be disbanded.
Chrysler spokesman Rick Deneau disputed Sheridan's account, saying that by early 1994 Chrysler already had decided to go with a secondary latch for the 1996 model year - the first year the change could be made.
Sheridan said that when he produced an October 1994 report that included the latches, he was told by Chrysler officials it presented ``serious legal implications.''
Chrysler fired Sheridan on Dec. 26, 1994, accusing him of leaking crash tests on a 1996 minivan. He is under court order not to talk to reporters as part of a Chrysler lawsuit against him. Sheridan in turn has a lawsuit against Chrysler over his firing.
LENGTH: Medium: 83 linesby CNB