Court Grants Mandamus Petition; Denies Plaintiffs’ Attempt to Tour and Videotape Goodyear Tire Plant
August 8, 2014In this products liability case, the plaintiffs alleged that Goodyear was grossly negligent with respect to its tire manufacturing practices at its North Carolina plant and that the design of the tire was defective because it failed to include a nylon cap ply. Ostensibly to help prove their case, the plaintiffs sought to tour and videotape parts of Goodyear’s plant in North Carolina. The trial court obliged, ordering Goodyear to allow plaintiffs’ counsel, expert witness, and a videographer to enter the facility and document the manufacturing process.
Goodyear resisted by filing a writ of mandamus challenging the trial court’s order permitting the tour. The Court of Appeals sided with Goodyear, reasoning that the main reason the plaintiffs wanted to tour the facility was to create demonstrative evidence (namely, a video to show the jury), not to discover new information. Because that is not a valid purpose to seek entry onto another party’s property, the Court granted Goodyear’s mandamus petition.
