No. 5-99-0830 IN THE APPELLATE COURT OF ... - Appellate.net

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Roe) testified to a double-blind study, conducted at the Collision Industry Conference, to determine how bodyshop owners would react to non-OEM parts if those parts were not identified as such. She testified that this study showed that all of the non-OEM parts she tested were acceptable and that some scored better than OEM parts. R. 9657; DX 2020C. Michelle Vogler, a mechanical engineering expert, testified that she had inspected five Taiwanese factories and an American plant where non-OEM parts were manufactured and had compared the non-OEM parts they produced to OEM parts. R. 11243. She testified that production runs of both OEM and non-OEM parts tolerate some internal variances, but that the non-OEM parts she reviewed showed less variation and were as good as the OEM parts she reviewed. R. 11349-52, 11358-61. William Reda, an engineer for a company that manufactures replacement parts for car makers, contradicted Griglio’s testimony that parts cannot be reverse-engineered, explaining that OEM manufacturers often do not have the specifications for a particular part and that they frequently (and successfully) reverseengineer OEM parts from an OEM sample. R. 8764-66, 8769, 8825-26. State Farm acknowledged that some consumers were skeptical about non-OEM parts before receiving them. But it presented evidence that virtually no one complained to State Farm, to insurance regulators, or to consumer advocates after the parts were actually installed on their vehicles. R. 8840, 9097-98, 11865-67, 8727, 12031, 10790-91. For example, the Assistant Deputy Director of the Illinois Department of Insurance testified that his office has received approximately 25,000 complaints related to auto insurance in the past five years, but that none concerned non-OEM parts. R. 8840. Similarly, a survey of State Farm claims files showed that only 0.59% of policyholders who had non-OEM parts -20-
specified on their repair estimates complained to State Farm. R. 9462; DX 908. State Farm also introduced evidence that, during the period from 1994 to 1997, State Farm policyholders for whom non-OEM parts had been specified renewed their policies at the same rate (95%) as policyholders for whom only OEM parts had been specified. R. 10158- 59; DX 867. State Farm also introduced evidence that professionals who set values for used cars consider the presence of non-OEM parts to be irrelevant. For example, an eighteen-year veteran director of the world’s largest auto auction house described plaintiffs’ lawsuit as “ludicrous,” stating that he had never heard anyone claim that the presence of non-OEM parts on a vehicle reduced its market value. R. 8870-71. The publisher of the “Black Book” value guide for used cars agreed that the mere presence of non-OEM parts on a vehicle has no impact on its market value. R. 10242. To respond to plaintiffs’ claim that non-OEM crash parts present a potential safety hazard, State Farm introduced expert testimony that most crash parts are entirely cosmetic and play no role at all in occupant safety, and that those non-OEM crash parts that could affect safety meet government standards and pass crash tests. R. 7501-02, 7542-43, 7566, 7860-61. State Farm introduced a 1991 report by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (“NHTSA”) regarding non-OEM crash parts, which concluded that “there are no data or analyses available at this time to suggest a safety problem with aftermarket or replacement components.” DX 481H. State Farm also introduced evidence that, although NHTSA has recalled close to three million OEM hoods, it has never recalled a non-OEM hood or any other non-OEM crash part. R. 10798-800. In their case and in rebuttal, plaintiffs did not introduce any evidence that anyone had ever been injured by any of the -21-
Page 1 and 2: No. 5-99-0830 IN THE APPELLATE COUR
Page 3 and 4: Charles Hester Enters. v. Illinois
Page 5 and 6: In re Fibreboard Corp., 893 F.2d 70
Page 7 and 8: State v. Piedmont Funding Corp., 38
Page 9 and 10: Hansberry v. Lee, 311 U.S. 32 (1940
Page 11 and 12: 1. Plaintiffs’ Body Shop Witnesse
Page 13 and 14: People v. Clayton, 302 Ill.App.3d 2
Page 15 and 16: VPHI, Inc. v. National Educ. Traini
Page 17 and 18: Okada v. MGIC Indem. Corp., 823 F.2
Page 19 and 20: Zekman v. Direct Am. Marketers, Inc
Page 21 and 22: Malooley v. Alice, 251 Ill.App.3d 5
Page 23 and 24: NATURE OF THE CASE This is an appea
Page 25 and 26: STATUTES INVOLVED Relevant portions
Page 27 and 28: to its “pre-loss condition.” DX
Page 29 and 30: OEM parts. 5/ At least two states
Page 31 and 32: paid the difference in cost out of
Page 33 and 34: epair estimate specified only OEM p
Page 35 and 36: potential class members whose names
Page 37 and 38: member’s vehicle other than those
Page 39 and 40: William Anderton, who had previousl
Page 41: categorically inferior and, in fact
Page 45 and 46: Second, plaintiffs sought “instal
Page 47 and 48: parts] are inferior.” R. 12539 (
Page 49 and 50: had an adequate remedy at law if St
Page 51 and 52: loss condition. Instead of requirin
Page 53 and 54: ARGUMENT I. Class Certification Vio
Page 55 and 56: members.” Slimack v. Country Life
Page 57 and 58: of evidence State Farm would be ent
Page 59 and 60: that are incongruous with the effic
Page 61 and 62: fenders to its pre-loss condition.
Page 63 and 64: a result of Allstate’s specificat
Page 65 and 66: insurance regulators and consumer a
Page 67 and 68: have been the overwhelming predomin
Page 69 and 70: some class members and the issue of
Page 71 and 72: not sooner, that plaintiffs could n
Page 73 and 74: explained above, class members who
Page 75 and 76: Even if the court had been right in
Page 77 and 78: value” of “parts at the time of
Page 79 and 80: page 7, supra. All of these statute
Page 81 and 82: (7th Cir. 1995) (decertifying class
Page 83 and 84: As the circuit court itself recogni
Page 85 and 86: the same shortcut, arguing — just
Page 87 and 88: epresentatives who appeared at tria
Page 89 and 90: — was injured by the alleged dece
Page 91 and 92: Litig., 182 F.R.D. at 225. Basic fa
Page 93 and 94:
Meineke’s continued financial via
Page 95 and 96:
this decision, plaintiffs were excu
Page 97 and 98:
corresponding OEM part. R. 7169. In
Page 99 and 100:
Mathur’s testimony was particular
Page 101 and 102:
end of the day, Mathur conceded tha
Page 103 and 104:
Zimny, 256 Ill.App.3d 386, 390-91 (
Page 105 and 106:
the jury was focused on the wrong i
Page 107 and 108:
to its pre-loss condition.” R. 12
Page 109 and 110:
quality of non-OEM parts. See Baltu
Page 111 and 112:
which is not surprising because the
Page 113 and 114:
In this case, plaintiffs’ experts
Page 115 and 116:
Bender could not swear that the non
Page 117 and 118:
OEM part construction “had some d
Page 119 and 120:
theory, even non-OEM parts that are
Page 121 and 122:
of his training or expertise”). P
Page 123 and 124:
eflected a policy of “discriminat
Page 125 and 126:
“speak up for justice.” R. 1301
Page 127 and 128:
12984-85. The perversion of ostensi
Page 129 and 130:
Polywheels company makes both the O
Page 131 and 132:
parts — was simply a made-for-lit
Page 133 and 134:
In contrast, each of the 47 other s
Page 135 and 136:
occurred outside Illinois. 51/ In t
Page 137 and 138:
laws of the State where the policy
Page 139 and 140:
This Court should follow the weight
Page 141 and 142:
other states, Illinois cannot apply
Page 143 and 144:
state’s law when it is not within
Page 145 and 146:
headquartered in Michigan); Endo, 1
Page 147 and 148:
for this Court to alter that author
Page 149 and 150:
y using parts of like kind and qual
Page 151 and 152:
plaintiffs’ failure to identify a
Page 153 and 154:
percentage of the class (New York a
Page 155 and 156:
committing fraud: if all non-OEM pa
Page 157 and 158:
specification damages they had soug
Page 159 and 160:
A. It Is Unconstitutional To Punish
Page 161 and 162:
that will subject him to punishment
Page 163 and 164:
fact benefitted from access to non-
Page 165 and 166:
deterrence and therefore must be va
Page 167 and 168:
517 U.S. at 576. This case is not i
Page 169 and 170:
either higher premiums or the incre
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