It’s rare for a discovery sanction case to reach the nation’s highest court. But, on April 18, the U.S. Supreme Court issued its decision in Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. v. Haeger, 2017 U.S. LEXIS 2613 (April 18, 2017), reversing a $2.7 million sanctions award that had been rendered by an Arizona district court and affirmed by a divided Ninth Circuit panel. The Supreme Court opinion by Justice Elena Kagan was joined by all the Justices (except for Justice Neil Gorsuch, who took no part in the decision).
The case started out as a products liability case filed by the Haegers against Goodyear and two other defendants after their motorhome swerved off the road and flipped over. One other defendant settled and one was dismissed, leaving Goodyear the sole defendant. Plaintiffs claimed that a G159 tire on the vehicle failed, causing the mishap. They theorized that the tire was not designed to withstand the level of heat it generated on a motorhome driven at highway speeds. Goodyear, on the other hand, posited that the tire had endured more than 40,000 miles of wear and tear and failed because it struck road debris.
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