KANSAS CITY, Mo. (Legal Newsline) – Two consumers claim they would not have purchased a particular model of pistol or paid less for it had the alleged defective nature of the firearm been disclosed to them.
David Hartley and Timothy DeLisle, individually and on behalf of all others similarly situated, filed a complaint on April 10 in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Missouri against Sig Sauer Inc. over alleged violation of Missouri Merchandising Practices Act and Illinois Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Business Practices Act.
According to the complaint, the defendant manufactures Sig Sauer model P320 pistols. The plaintiffs allege the defendant designed and manufactured the pistols without a safety feature known as disconnector safety.
"Sig's failure to include a disconnector safety renders the design of the pistols both defective and unsafe because the pistols may fire out-of-battery, creating a dangerous and potentially lethal safety issue," the suit states.
The suit states that in August 2017, the defendant issued a voluntary upgrade to "address the pistols’ propensity to unintentionally fire when dropped. Sig, however, failed to disclose that the pistols were plagued with additional problems. For instance, because the pistols did not have a disconnector safety, the pistols could fire out-of-battery, a serious safety concern potentially leading to a catastrophic failure," the suit states.
The plaintiffs request a trial by jury and seek award of actual, compensatory, and punitive damages; grant appropriate injunctive and/or declaratory relief; prejudgment interest;, attorneys' fees; expenses; costs of suit; and such further relief that the court deems appropriate. They are represented by Tim E. Dollar of Dollar Burns & Becker LC in Kansas City, Missouri; Matthew D. Schelkopf of Sauder Schelkopf in Berwyn, Pennsylvania; and Bonner Walsh of Walsh PPLC in Grangeville, Idaho.
U.S. District Court for the Western District of Missouri Case number 4:18-cv-00267-HFS