October 24, 2005 11:30 AM, EDT

Alabama Court Overturns Verdict Against Freightliner

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he Alabama Supreme Court unanimously overturned a $1.2 million jury verdict against truck manufacturer Freightliner, ruling that company had no obligation to give an Alabama customer information about the quality of its manufacturing plant in Mexico, the Associated Press reported late Friday.

Now-defunct Whatley Contract Carriers sued Freightliner over the purchase of 40 trucks that came from Freightliner’s plant in Mexico, AP said.

A Montgomery Circuit Court jury decided Freightliner had suppressed information about problems with the Mexican plant and awarded the trucking company $440,000 in compensatory damages and $750,000 in punitive damages.

Freightliner, a division of DaimlerChrysler, appealed to the Alabama Supreme Court, which reversed the jury’s verdict 5-0, AP said.

"Freightliner did not assume a duty to disclose all the facts it had regarding the Mexico plant," the court said.