Glad I got my Honda from the Island:

Worker: 'Toyota Way' Ignored at Factory: Financial News - Yahoo! Finance



Typicle american lazines, it makes me sad to say this

 

Oh that's total PWNAGE...

 

$45,000,000 'cause you got demoted? GTFO. That's just as bad as the guys neglecting defaults to make extra money in their bonuses.

 

sad thing is the civic's/accords etc are also made in the US(Ohio)/Mexico plants. This is probably the same reason why the Tundra has a recall on walking cam shafts, and defective trannies.

 

Toyota and GM working together??!!....THE HORROR!!! :p:D

 

That sounds like just another BS petty lawsuit. 45 Million for being incompetent and finding a plaintiff lawyer who knows how to tickle the heartstrings of jurors. If she was a minority it might have been for that instead.

Regardless if the claims are unsubstantiated or not, Toyota will probably settle out of court since the legal fees and associated bad press from a prolonged trial will outweigh the expense of just paying them off.

 

If she isn't lying then I hope she gets every penny of that suit. Either way, I can definitly scratch the new Corolla/Matrix off my new car list becuase I'm fickle like that.

 

civics and accords have been made in the us for a LOOONGG time, and the quality that you experience does not diminish just because it was made here. You don't see honda going through this kind of crap.

 

.....yes they do. My wife owned a 98, 00, and 04 accord, and the quality isn't that great compared to the 90 accord. The car was built so much more solid back then. The new ones are like tin cans and all the fitments are starting to look GM like. Check hood gaps on a the 00 accords was the worst, could see the difference from 30 feet away.

BTW...i work in the auto industry checking gaps for 6 years....honda isn't that bad...but they aren't getting better.

The worst was GM SUV's....you could almost put a rubber eraser (the 3/4" thick ones between the tailgate and the qtr panel on 1 side, and a pen(1/4") on the other...

 

Wow I can't believe you guys are hating on her lawsuit. The 45 million isn't for her personal distress but more for being punished as a whistle blower. Most major companies today have an "open door" policy when it comes to talking about worker conditions and safety issues. Also most companies like mine have a clause in our contracts that say if we do report something that is wrong we can't be fired or punished. It seems like she put a LOT of effort into contacting superiors to no avail. Well a 45 million dollar lawsuit might make them listen.

Good for her trying to keep cars safe and not putting up with bullshit management.

 

All I'm saying is that whether or not she is telling the truth is irrelevant - she will probably get a settlement without going to trial.

Also keep in mind, even if she is lying and it still goes to trial - the idiot jurors will still likely rule in favor of the poor victim plaintiff over the big "evil" Japanese corporation.

The lawyer will likely get 30-50% of whatever Toyota pays out. I'm sure he's representing her for free, based solely on the potential prize at the end.

It's just another example of our justice system.

 

Toyota's are getting worse in reliability. GM is getting better. IN fact GM's reliability is higher than a toyota currently, but public perception is toyota is still superior since reliability perception takes 12 years to spread.

The new corolla looks horrible. The new scion xB looks horrible. The new matrix looks worse (while the new pontiac vibe looks better). The tundra is crap and was defective. FJ cruisers had a recall. Priuses had a recall. This list grows bigger while GM's grows smaller. In a few years toyota US might need help from GM not the other way around as it is currently.

That woman is a hero. I read a seprate article on emotional women. When high ranking men are emotional, they are perceived as powerful. When high ranking women are emotional, they are perceived as out of control and overly dramatic. Poor woman. GM should hire her. Honda doesn't need her : )

 

Japanese court rules Toyota employee died from too much work - Autoblog

The opposite is true overseas.

 

i think it's horrible people are assuming right off the bat that this is some bs lawsuit.

i have worked in businesses that punish you for doing your job correctly, because it just may point out the flaws in their system, just like it did in this situation. the higher-ups find out that you're not going to sacrifice your dignity for their crummy job, and that can DEFINITELY lead to lawsuits. nothing terrifies a business owner more than the threat of a lawsuit looming overhead.

to one of the previous posters, not only should it be a clause in your company's policy, it's the law that you cannot be discriminated against for pointing out safety hazards, etc. the companies i've worked for (in retail) all have anonymous compliance hotlines you can call to report these types of things as well.

i'm glad this woman stood up for herself, and for everyone who bought a toyota.

 

How do you know this? Could you cite the stats/polls or anything that quantitatively shows this to be a fact?

I am not disagreeing with you. I just want to know how you have arrived at this "fact."

 

Toyota slips in Consumer Reports' reliability rankings - Oct. 16, 2007

I think i misread. Whatever I read must've said GM is looking to surpass toyota. Anyway this is saying toyota is getting worse, but still in the safe zone.

 

I believe the lawsuit is misdirected since they seem like a contracted company. I think that NUMMI should be the one being sued but it looks like she's going after the big fish instead.

 

No problem Gordio. Thanks for the link. I appreciate it.

I think Toyota has slipped, but to an extent that a regular 'A' student has suddenly got a few C's, uncharacteristically, whereas an analogy for GM may be that a regular 'D+/C-' student is trying to get some B's. The ratio of improvement may be greater for GM in this sense, but the overall GPA appears to still be higher for Toyota at this point in time.

GM's improvement can only help consumers. I am all for it, by the way.

 

i admire her for being a whistleblower. it's not easy to do the right thing even when there are official policies that say you won't be fired; it's even worse when you're being outright harassed. and think of the example toyota sets by harassing the same person that toyota promoted through the ranks to the rank of instructor to other quality control folks.

if i were a new auditor, and i saw corporate put the screws to the same guy/gal that just days ago trained me how to do my job, i'd clam up pretty good. and both toyota and consumers would have to pay for it with unsafe vehicles that continuously return for warranty work. i'd say her lawsuit is a huge win just for the publicity and putting all manufacturers on notice.