A pistol-packin’ 6-figure payout

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  • Sig Sauer
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OKLAHOMA CITY – Gunmaker Sig Sauer charged a customer $280 to fix his P320 pistol after it was damaged in a “cartridge failure event” that the company blamed on ammunition the owner used.

A few months later the same mishap occurred again. Now, the gun manufacturer is bracing for a payout of perhaps $850,000 to plaintiffs who successfully filed a lawsuit over the pistol’s claimed faults. Sig Sauer (SIG) has tentatively agreed to settle a class-action lawsuit in Missouri that claims the company’s controversial P320 handgun had a design flaw.  The lawsuit contends P320s manufactured prior to August 8, 2017, were defective because the design “allowed the pistol to discharge where the pistol’s slide and barrel are in an unlocked condition due to the absence of a mechanical disconnector.” The alleged defect resulted in a “cartridge failure event.” That means some P320s sustained damage – including a blown-out extractor and/or cracking or other damage to the grip module – caused by a ruptured cartridge.

The pending settlement stipulates that the damaged gun must have been armed with factory-new ammunition of the correct caliber, excluding all hand loads, reloads, or remanufactured ammo. Unlike several other lawsuits filed against SIG over the P320, the pending settlement does not involve claims of personal injury or property damage. U.S. District Judge Howard F. Sachs signed an order on Feb. 18 granting the motion of plaintiffs David Hartley and Timothy DeLisle, “and all others similarly situated,” for preliminary approval of the proposed settlement.

LITIGANTS IN THE CASE

Hartley is a Missouri firefighter and medic, his lawsuit petition states. He purchased a SS P320 pistol in August 2015 for approximately $450. However, he claims he wouldn’t have bought the gun if “the defective nature of the pistol had been publicly disclosed and/or publicly confirmed” by SIG “prior to the time of purchase.” DeLisle is an Illinois resident who bought a P320 pistol for $650 in March 2017. In its original condition, the gun did not contain a disconnector safety, “which creates a dangerous condition that allows the pistol to fire out-of-battery.” A disconnector safety prevents a gun from firing when the explosion cannot be properly contained and controlled.

DeLisle claimed he was shooting the pistol about a month later “when it experienced an out-of-battery event, catastrophically failing and requiring repair.” Firing “out-of-battery” refers to the pistol’s ability to fire when the barrel and slide are not locked together firmly, court documents state. The explosion that occurs inside the chamber of the gun when the hammer, or striker, hits it is not properly contained within the firearm, plaintiffs contend. Instead of containing the energy from the explosion and using it to project the bullet from the end of the barrel, “the firearm defect allows the explosion to expand in a non-forward or uncontrolled direction, potentially causing damage to the firearm or the shooter.” DeLisle returned the gun to SIG, “putting them on notice regarding the out-of- battery event...”

Rather than “acknowledge the issue and honor their warranty,” SIG “falsely blamed” the ammunition in his pistol and charged him $280 to repair the firearm, DeLisle alleged in the lawsuit. Furthermore, SIG “did not fit the pistol for a disconnector safety at that time.” In December 2017, DeLisle “again experienced an out-of-battery event.” When he notified SIG about the issue, “he was again told the ammunition was to blame” and was instructed to send the gun back to SIG for repairs and an upgrade. “Having paid for this once before,” DeLisle “declined and instead has kept possession of the damaged pistol in its inoperable condition.”

3 CLASSES OF GUN OWNERS TO BENEFIT IN SETTLEMENT

According to court documents, three classes of P320 owners will benefit from the proposed settlement.

• Members of Category 1 will receive a transferrable limited lifetime warranty against any future cartridge failure event.

Also, to the extent that a Category 1 settlement class member previously experienced a cartridge failure event but did not previously return that pistol for repair, SIG agrees to repair the P320 at no cost to the owner. If the pistol cannot be repaired, SIG agrees to refund to the owner “the greater of the original purchase price of their P320 pistol or the manufacturer’s suggested retail price,” or provide a new P320 pistol of the same or similar version. 

• Members in Category 2 will have their choice of a refund of expenses they paid for previous repairs after a cartridge failure event, or receive a new P320 of the same or similar version.

• Category 3 members will be refunded any money paid to SIG to repair their P320 pistol, including shipping costs. They also will get a limited lifetime warranty against any future cartridge failure event “resulting from the use of appropriate ammunition.”

SIG PROVIDING UPGRADE FREE TO P320 CUSTOMERS

In an updated notice, SIG must issue a public announcement about the P320 upgrade program available to owners who bought the firearm prior to August 2017. The upgrade is “completely free of charge to all customers,” the company must acknowledge. SIG “is even covering the cost of shipping and returning your P320 pistol to you!” SIG reports it modified the design of its P320 pistol “to improve its safety, reliability and overall performance.” The upgrades provide greater protection “against unintended discharges if the pistol is dropped,” the company claims. The modified pistol also includes a mechanical disconnector “which provides an additional layer of protection against cartridge failure events,” the notice reads.

Since the upgraded program was first announced, more than 100,000 P320s have been modified, the company says.  For more information about the upgrade or how to participate in the program, visit the Sig Sauer website at https:// www.sigsauer.com/support/ p320-voluntary-upgrade/ or call Customer Service at 603- 610-3000 M-F between 8:30 a.m. and 6 p.m. EST. SIG is a Delaware corporation “with a principal place of business” in New Hampshire. Its parent company is L&O Holding, a Swiss-based manufacturing firm.

SETTLEMENT NOTICES GO OUT THIS MONTH

Lawyers representing the settlement classes will seek up to $850,000 in reimbursement of their out-of-pocket expenses plus attorneys’ fees and costs “based on their work in this litigation,” court documents shows. Sig Sauer must start disseminating notice of the settlement and its provisions by March 9, 2020, according to the settlement agreement. Class members must mail any letter objecting to the proposed settlement on or before 3 June, and all parties to the case must submit motions for final approval of the proposed settlement by June 20, 2020.

Eventually, a final approval hearing will be held in the Charles Evans Whittaker Courthouse at Kansas City, Mo. After that hearing, Judge Sachs will decide whether to grant final approval of the settlement, and if so, how much to pay the lawyers and plaintiffs in the case. “We do not know how long it will take the Court to render these decisions,” a document in case files states.