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NJ Supreme Court To Decide Whether Public Can Seek Access To Sealed Documents About Tire Safety

Appellate Division Barred Public from Seeking Goodyear Tire Documents Sealed Though Disclosure Could 'Save Lives and Limbs'

The New Jersey Supreme Court agreed on January 21, 2004 to decide whether members of the public have the right to seek access to discovery documents that potentially reveal a grave public danger. The Court will review the New Jersey Appellate Division's ruling in Frankl v. Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company that the public never has standing to seek access to such documents, even when the trial court found that many of them had been illegally sealed and their public disclosure "could save lives and limbs."
Trial Lawyers for Public Justice (TLPJ) and Consumers for Auto Reliability and Safety (CARS) has been seeking public access to the documents since November 2000 because of growing concerns about the dangers of Goodyear's Load Range E tires.

"The Supreme Court of New Jersey's decision to hear this case is a major step forward for the public's right to know," said TLPJ Staff Attorney Rebecca E. Epstein, lead counsel on the appeal. "New Jersey Rule 4:10-3 - like federal law and the law of many states - says that discovery documents can always be disclosed to the public unless a party proves that 'good cause' for secrecy exists. The Appellate Division's decision effectively turned that rule on its head and eliminated the public's right to know, even when the documents involve a serious danger to the public and the trial court has specifically found that no 'good cause' for secrecy exists."

Frankl was filed after three U.S. Air Force personnel riding in a General Motors Suburban were killed and three others were injured when a Goodyear tire came apart and the vehicle rolled over. TLPJ intervened in the case on behalf of CARS, a non-profit automobile safety and consumer advocacy organization, to seek public access to 31 sealed documents about the alleged dangers of the tires. Goodyear sells the Load Range E tires at issue in Frankl under numerous names, including Goodyear Wrangler AT and HT, Goodyear All-Season Workhorse, Kelly-Springfield Power King, and Kelly-Springfield Trailbuster. They are primarily used on passenger vans, large sport utility vehicles, ambulances, and light trucks.

On July 10, 2002, the New Jersey trial court ruled that there was no justification for secrecy with respect to 14 of the Goodyear documents, which had been disclosed pursuant to a "stipulated" protective order that was reached by agreement of the parties and never subject to any judicial finding of good cause for secrecy. In granting public access to the documents, the trial court found that they contained important information regarding the alleged defects in Goodyear's tires and that their disclosure "may help save lives and limbs." Goodyear appealed that ruling, arguing that members of the public should never be permitted to seek access to discovery materials, even in cases where they contain important health and safety information.

On September 16, 2002, the New Jersey Appellate Division agreed with Goodyear and reversed the trial court's decision in its entirety. The sole stated reason was that TLPJ and CARS, as members of the public, lack any right to seek access to modification of protective orders governing protective orders, even in cases where there is no good cause for secrecy.
In so holding, the Appellate Division conceded that the trial court's finding of no good cause for secrecy with respect to the 14 secret Goodyear documents was "well supported." It found, however, that "there exists no right of public access to discovery materials."

"We will keep fighting to get to the truth about the safety of these tires," said Rosemary Shahan, president of CARS. "Over 20 million Load Range E tires are still on the road, with a history of at least 86 crashes leading to 18 deaths and 158 injuries. The New Jersey Supreme Court's decision to hear this case is an important first step in ensuring that this information gets out into the open, where it belongs."

TLPJ's challenge in Frankl is part of Project ACCESS, its 15-year-old nationwide campaign against unnecessary court secrecy. Through Project ACCESS, TLPJ fights - and helps others to fight - unduly restrictive protective orders, intervenes in specific cases to fight for the public's right to know, and educates the courts and the public about the problems posed by litigation in secret.

In addition to Epstein, TLPJ's legal team in Frankl includes TLPJ Executive Director Arthur H. Bryant, TLPJ Staff Attorney Leslie A.
Brueckner, Woodbridge, New Jersey lawyers Christopher Placitella and Jennifer Sarnelli of Wilentz, Goldman & Spitzer, and Tab Turner of Turner & Associates in North Little Rock, Arkansas. TLPJ's briefs to the New Jersey Supreme Court are not publicly available pursuant to a court order directing that they be filed under seal. TLPJ's motion to unseal these filings is still pending. The trial court's decision and briefs that TLPJ filed earlier in the case are posted online at www.tlpj.org.

Plaintiffs' counsel in the case, Christine Spagnoli of Greene, Broillet, Taylor, Wheeler & Panish of Santa Monica, California, originally challenged the sealing of these documents, asked TLPJ for assistance in unsealing them, and helped expose the dangers of these tires. Goodyear quickly settled the case with her client and argued that no one else had a right to see the documents. Spagnoli has continued to support TLPJ's efforts to vindicate the public's right to know.

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Trial Lawyers for Public Justice is the only public interest law firm dedicated to using trial lawyers' skills and resources to advance the public good. Founded in 1982, TLPJ utilizes a network of more than 3,000 of the nation's outstanding trial lawyers to pursue precedent-setting and socially significant litigation. TLPJ has a wide-ranging litigation docket in the areas of consumer rights, access to the courts, worker safety, civil rights and liberties, toxic torts, and environmental protection. TLPJ is the principal project of The TLPJ Foundation, a not-for-profit membership organization headquartered in Washington, DC, with a West Coast office in Oakland, California. TLPJ's New Jersey State Coordinator is Esther Berezofsky of Williams, Cuker & Berezofsky in Cherry Hill, tel. 856-663-5155. The TLPJ web site address is www.tlpj.org. The CARS web site address is www.carconsumers.com, tel. 530-759-9440.

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