© 2014 The Texas Lawbook.
By Natalie Posgate
Staff Writer for The Texas Lawbook
(April 28) – A Dallas jury ruled Monday that Honeywell International committed fraud against Hunt Consolidated by not telling the Dallas-based oil and gas company about certain defects in Honeywell’s turbofan engines, which powered two of Hunt’s corporate Learjets.
In a 10-2 verdict, the jury awarded Hunt nearly $1.4 million in damages, which included the costs for rental engine fees and repair of Hunt’s engines.
The jury of eight women and four men heard three weeks of testimony and deliberated for nearly two full days before announcing its decision.
Hunt sued Honeywell in 2011 after it discovered the alleged defect on one of the company’s Learjets during pre-flight operations for a flight that would have transported a group of Hunt employees and their family members from Dallas to Austin for a business trip.
Lawyers for Hunt say that further investigation revealed that essentially all of the blade retainers in the Learjet’s engines had broken off and caused secondary damage to the engine.
Hunt and its CEO, Ray L. Hunt, claimed in the lawsuit that the engine defects could have been deadly if the engine had failed in the air, rather than on the ground.
Key witnesses jurors heard from during the three-week trial included Mr. Hunt, Honeywell engineers, aviation experts, Hunt’s head of maintenance and Hunt’s pilot.
Lawyers for Hunt argued that information about the defective blade retainers should have been included in a 2008 service bulletin that Honeywell sent to customers announcing a new, “more robust” blade retainer design that could be installed at the next routine maintenance checkup, which Learjets are scheduled to have at about 2,500 flight hours.
By leaving out such information, Honeywell put its corporate profits before safety, Michael Hurst, one of Hunt’s lawyers, told jurors.
“This is not an acceptable way for an international corporation to behave or to treat its customers,” said Michael Hurst, one of Hunt’s lawyers. “Hopefully this will be sent to manufacturers across the world that this is not the right behavior.”
Hurst and Shonn Brown, another partner at Gruber Hurst Johansen Hail Shank, said that Hunt spent more money in legal fees that he ever expected to be awarded from the jury just so he could publicly scold Honeywell for its conduct.
“It’s such an honor to represent somebody who wants to do the right thing,” Brown said.
In a company statement, Honeywell expressed its intent to appeal and its disappointment in the jury’s verdict.
“Honeywell is proud of the superb performance and safety record of its 731 turbofan engines and remains committed to the highest standards of quality and customer satisfaction,” the statement said.
Beau Burns, the presiding juror, was one of the two members of the jury who did not unanimously agree with the verdict.
Unlike the majority, Burns, who is a relationship manager at a bank in Dallas, said he felt that Honeywell likely should have disclosed more information about its engine defects to customers, but did not believe that Honeywell intentionally defrauded or misrepresented information at the cost of Hunt.
Dallas Carrington Coleman partner Monica Latin represented Honeywell, as well as Joe Mais and Jessica Everett-Garcia, two Phoenix, Ariz.-based partners at Perkins Coie.
Along with Hurst and Brown, Gruber Hurst associate Steve Hopkins also played a role in Hunt’s representation.
Monday’s verdict marked the end of the second jury trial for this case. In June 2013, Dallas County District Judge Martin Hoffman declared a mistrial due to concerns of the jury returning a verdict before some jurors left town for vacation.
The trial again took place in Judge Hoffman’s court.
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