Two Canadian class action lawsuits have been commenced against Toyota in the wake of the ongoing recall involving problematic gas pedals in some 270,000 Canadian vehicles.
Toyota recalled 4.2 million vehicles in North America, Europe and China on Jan. 21, citing a problem with gas pedals that were found to stick in some situations.
On Monday, Toyota Canada announced a plan to retrofit all recalled vehicles with steel reinforcement bars that the company believes will fix a problem in the gas pedal assembly that is apparently causing the pedals to stick. The Japanese automaker intends to begin repairs for its customers by the end of the week.
But a Toronto plaintiff says he -- and all other Canadian Toyota owners -- deserve compensation for losses and injuries they have allegedly suffered with their vehicles.
Steven Hamilton, the proposed representative plaintiff, says he can't believe Toyota sold him a vehicle just weeks ago without knowing about the problem. He is seeking a full refund.
His claim has been filed with the Ontario Superior Court of Justice in Toronto.
Toyota Canada, Toyota in the U.S. and parts supplier CTS are named as defendants.
The claim alleges that Toyota and CTS either knew, or should have known, about the flaw that causes runaway acceleration in some of its vehicles.
Joel Rochon, a lawyer in Hamilton's class action lawsuit, says the lawsuit could potentially involve "tens of thousands" of claimants in Canada.
"Our concern now is that the fix is not going to the heart of the problem which we allege is a faulty computer system," he told CTV News Channel Monday afternoon.
"This problem has been going on for years in the United States primarily, starting in 2002 with a new computer system that was designed to regulate acceleration and braking."
None of the allegations raised in the statement of claim have been proven in court.
During an interview on CTV News Channel, Stephen Beatty, the managing director of Toyota Canada, said he did not want to comment on the lawsuit.
"I haven't seen the lawsuit and frankly our attention today is on making sure that the solution gets into the marketplace and into our customer's vehicles," Beatty said Monday afternoon.
Saskatchewan lawyer Tony Merchant is also planning a class action lawsuit against Toyota on behalf of all Canadian owners of Toyota and Lexus vehicles.
Merchant said many of his clients were personally endangered by runaway acceleration.
With files from The Canadian Press
