Loose lug nuts bring suit against tire store
Most customers of Les Schwab tire stores are familiar with the orange flyers placed inside the vehicle after a service or installation.
A warning on the card recommends retorquing lug nuts to specifications within 50 miles for proper tightness.
One customer who was warned of that recommendation is suing the Oregon-based company after he was injured in a serious accident when a wheel flew off his vehicle.
John W. Quatman filed the complaint against Les Schwab Tire Center in Flathead District Court on Dec. 10. He claims his wheels weren’t installed with “ordinary care” and that the tire store should be held responsible for damages that resulted from his accident.
According to the complaint, Quatman purchased new tires for his pickup at the Whitefish Les Schwab store on April 8, 2014. Quatman says he was handed the warning card following installation. The complaint doesn’t specify whether he returned to have the lug nuts retorqued, only that he presumed they were torqued to specifications.
Less than a month later, he was driving near Plentywood en route to Williston, N.D., when his left rear tire came off. The vehicle veered off the road and flipped three times before coming to a rest upright. Quatman was taken by ambulance to a nearby hospital and the pickup was deemed a total loss. Quatman says he suffered substantial injuries from the accident and lost wages.
Despite the warning card, Quatman’s complaint claims the Les Schwab store was negligent in its installation of the tires, and that using the warning card to “recommend” re-torquing isn’t enough to relieve the store of its duty of care during initial installation.
His complaint suggests that Les Schwab knew its employees were not properly trained or supervised, and that the torque wrenches used were not calibrated regularly nor were the wrench calibrations maintained.
“Use of the warning card demonstrated that [Les Schwab] deliberately proceeded in a conscious and/or intentional disregard of the high probability of injury [to Quatman],” the complaint states.
The complaint also argues that Les Schwab misrepresents itself as an expert in tire installation. It notes the Les Schwab slogan is “Doing the right thing since 1952.”
“In representing itself as an expert, the defendant misrepresented a fact to be true that was not true,” the complaint states.
Quatman says Les Schwab refused to pay his claims or conduct a “reasonable investigation” of the incident when “liability was reasonably clear.”
Quatman is seeking damages to be determined at a jury trial. He is represented by Whitefish attorney John Wagner. Judge Amy Eddy is considering the case.