Judge Issues Restraining Order Against Toyota

The recently sparked scandal involving Japanese manufacturer Toyota and its alleged involvement in the cover-up of compromising roll-over accident evidence has moved to the next stage. A Texas federal judge has issued a restraining order against the manufacturer, its subsidiaries and its legal team, in order to prevent them from destroying any document related to the matter.

The restraining order was obtained by Dallas attorney Todd Tracy, in connection with the recently filed suits against Toyota, just-auto.com reported.

"Toyota should heed this judge's warning from the board room to the assembly line that every single email, every document, every bit of research, and all information about vehicle safety is now put on hold. I filed the motion out of concern that Dimitrios Biller's allegations describe that a Watergate style cover-up was underway at Toyota to undermine the American legal system," Tracy said.

The documents in question include documents related to liability cases, research, testing and even the ones subject to destruction under document retention policies. The restraining order will be distributed throughout the entire company, including outside contractors.

The entire soon-to-be scandal started in the beginning of September, when a former Toyota attorney, Dimitrios Biller asked Todd Tracy to refile several suits against the manufacturer. Biller claims Toyota didn’t disclose all evidence useful for rollover suits or for National Highway Traffic Safety Administration regulations.

Toyota replied later by saying "after careful review of these allegations, we are confident that we have acted appropriately with respect to product liability litigation" and announced it will take legal action against Biller.