Judgment reinstated against Hyundai

OLYMPIA, Wash. (AP) — The state Supreme Court on Wednesday reinstated an $8 million default judgment against Hyundai Motor Co. in a lawsuit over the backward collapse of a front seat in a 1997 crash that left a man paralyzed.

In a 7-2 ruling, the high court reversed the Court of Appeals, which had overturned a trial court’s finding for Jesse Magana of Vancouver.

The justices said the South Korean automaker deliberately withheld documentation from Magana’s lawyers for too long concerning other crashes in which front seats collapsed.

The court also ruled that Hyundai should pay Magana’s attorney’s fees and expenses.

Magana was riding in the front passenger seat of a rented 1996 Hyundai Accent when the driver swerved to avoid an oncoming truck and hit two trees. The force of the air bag apparently broke the seat’s reclining mechanism, and Magana, who had been wearing a seat belt, was thrown out the back of the hatchback. He was left a paraplegic.

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