Although lives may be in jeopardy, court records are often sealed when firms resolve product liability cases.
Some lawmakers call for banning the practice when public safety is at risk.
The pervasive practice of sealing product liability settlements from public view, even when doing so could jeopardize lives, is coming under new scrutiny as a result of last month's Firestone tire recall. The recall of 6.5 million tires came only after accidents and deaths had piled up for eight years. Typically, these settlements contained confidentiality agreements, sometimes barring all parties from discussing aspects of the cases. Key documents in many of the court files were sealed or returned to the two companies, which helped keep the recurring problem out of the public eye. It is a pattern that has been repeated many times over the years in product-liability cases.