Case: Johnson vs. Coldrock Tire and Rubber Company

 Case: Johnson vs. Coldrock Tire and Rubber Company

In March 2016, John “Johnny” Johnson, a mechanic employed by Infiniti of Parkland,

attempted  to  mount  a  16-inch  tire  on  a  17-inch  rim  of  an  Infiniti  G35  wheel.  While

installing  the  tire,  he  leaned  and  reached  over  the  assembly  and  the  tire  exploded,

causing him serious, permanent injuries.  Mr. Johnson lost three fingers of his right hand

in  the  accident,  as  well  as  the  vision  in  his  right  eye.    In  addition  to  his  job  at  the

dealership, Mr. Johnson was an aspiring reggae musician who the day of the accident

had received a multi-million dollar record contract offer from Tinseltown Records.  Mr.

Johnson filed suit in Florida's 17th Judicial Circuit Court against his employer, American

Hawk  Company–  the  manufacturer  of  the  wheel,  Nissan  Motor  Company  –  the

manufacturer  of  the  automobile  and  designer  of  the  wheel  and  Coldrock  Tire  and

Rubber  Company  –  the  manufacturer  of  the  tire.  Mr.  Johnson  had  10  years  of

experience  as  a  mechanic  and  had  received  three  days  of  on-site  training  from

representatives  of  Coldrock.  The  dealership,  wheel  manufacturer  and  automobile

manufacturer all settled, leaving Coldrock as the remaining defendant.  

This is a civil tort case and not a criminal one.  Causes of actions will consist of claims

for

1. Negligence, and

2. (Strict) product liability

An issue in the case is the labeling on the tire.  The tire had a label, advising users never

to mount a 16-inch tire on a 17-inch rim, warning of the danger of severe injury or death,

and included a drawing of a mechanic leaning over the tire to install it with a circle and

red line drawn through it.  Whether the label was sufficiently conspicuous or adequately

depicted  the  resulting  danger  or  risk  of  injury,  remains  an  open  issue.    In  depositions,

Johnson admitted that he ignored these warnings at the urging of his employer, especially

because it was common practice to install smaller tires on larger rims of the Infiniti G35.  

During discovery, Johnson's attorneys explored why Coldrock did not use a safer "bead"

design.  The bead is a rubber encased steel wire, which circles the tire and holds it on to

the  rim.  Each  side  has  offered  up  experts,  with  Johnson's  pointing  out  that  other

manufacturers  use  different  and  safer  bead  designs  and  Coldrock's  arguing  that  the

Coldrock  design  was  the  safest  in  the  industry,  and  a  different  design  would  not  have

changed the outcome.

The defendant in the case is Roger “Cole” Coldrock, CEO of the company, who is being

represented by the Wall Street firm of Ben, Jarvis, Green & Ellis, LLP. The plaintiff is

being  represented  by  the  law  firm  of  Dewey,  Cheatum  &  Howe,  LLP,  a  specialist  in

product  liability  suits.  The  assigned  judge  in  the  case  is  the  Hon.  Solomon  Cardozo

Holmes, a recent appointee by the Republican governor.  Before his appointment, Judge

Holmes was in private practice with a large Fort Lauderdale firm; his major client was

General Motors. 

 General Information  

-Read the entire case  

Write a 1 page summary with the following (From the Mock Trial):

1-  Understand  the law and the

issues that will be argued. 

2-  Understand how to run a trial