WILLIAMSBURG, Va. (BRAIN) — Attorneys involved in a product liability case are seeking to exclude a Taiwanese company, ADK Technology Ltd., which manufactured a carbon fiber fork with an allegedly defective steerer tube.
Felt Bicycles recalled 1,200 bikes with ADK-made forks in 2010. The forks had been installed on three models of Felt road bikes. At the time of the recall, Felt had received seven reports of forks breaking resulting in minor injuries, according the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission.
According to the lawsuit filed in the Williamsburg-James County Circuit Court, cyclist Mark Ashby was injured in April 2013 and filed the product liability suit almost two years later, Feb. 11, 2015.
Ashby had bought an S32 model Felt in 2008; initially it was not included as part of the 2010 recall but, Ashby's 2008 model S32 was added to the recall list in 2014 when Felt expanded the recall, the Williamsburg Yorktown Daily reported.
Besides ADK, Felt Racing and Bikes Unlimited, the store where Ashby bought the bike and had it serviced, were also named in the lawsuit. Ashby claimed the store had failed to notify him of the recall.
ADK Technology, with its main office in Taichung, manufactured the fork at its Chinese facility in Huizhou, a city west of Guangzhou in Guangdong Province. Attorneys in the case declined to comment.
Ashby sued all three companies seeking $2 million in damages as well as legal costs.
ADK has filed a motion to be excluded from the product liability suit claiming a "lack of personal jurisdiction," reported the Williamsburg Yorktown Daily. The motion, according to the court calendar, is scheduled to be heard Oct. 23.
ADK is making a somewhat similar claim made by Giant Manufacturing in a recent case that made its way to the Illinois State Appellate Court. That court ruled Sept. 8 that Giant had sufficient ties to the state and the individuals involved in the lawsuit and ruled against the Taiwan company's motion to be severed from the lawsuit. That case has been sent back to the trial court for further action.
Ashby's suit claims that he was riding on Colonial Parkway when the steerer tube broke and he lost control of the bicycle. He is claiming his injuries are permanent, they continue to affect his health, and he has limited ability to pursue normal activities.
