Owner of car dealership labeled "Taliban Toyota" wins millions

sipnfuel · Nov 2, 2011

Owner of car dealership labeled "Taliban Toyota" wins millions - Yahoo! News

MOBILE, Ala (Reuters) - The owner of a large southwest Alabama car dealership derided as "Taliban Toyota" by a competitor has been awarded $7.5 million in damages after a jury trial for his slander claim.

Iranian-born Shawn Esfahani, owner of Eastern Shore Toyota in Daphne, Alabama, sought $28 million in compensatory and punitive damages from Bob Tyler Toyota, claiming employees at that Pensacola, Florida-based dealership falsely portrayed him as an Islamist militant to customers.

"The feeling I received in the courtroom for the truth to come out was worth a lot more than any money anybody can give me," Esfahani told Reuters on Tuesday.

Esfahani's lawsuit said that Bob Tyler sales manager Fred Kenner told at least one couple considering buying from Eastern Shore Toyota in 2009 that Esfahani was of Middle Eastern descent and was "helping fund the insurgents there and is also laundering money for them."

Esfahani, a naturalized U.S. citizen, fled his native Iran in 1980 following the Islamic revolution that toppled the U.S.-backed Shah and swept Shi'ite Muslim clergy to power, his lawsuit said. He opened his car dealership in 2007.

The Taliban, by contrast, are hardline Islamists in the central Asian nations of Afghanistan and Pakistan who follow an austere interpretation of Islamic law.

A Bob Tyler salesman was accused of telling the same couple that Esfahani was from Iraq and calling him a "terrorist" who put soldiers including the salesman's brother in harm's way.

"(Esfahani) is funneling money back to his family and other terrorists. I have a brother over there and what you're doing is helping kill my brother," the salesman told the couple when he called them on the Eastern Shore sales floor, according to the suit.

The jury deliberated for three hours before awarding Esfahani $2.5 million in compensatory damages and $5 million in punitive damages on Monday evening.

Bob Tyler's attorney Jeffrey Ingram could not be reached for comment on Tuesday, and Tyler and Kenner both declined to comment on the verdict through a dealership spokesman.

Esfahani said the dollar amount awarded by the jury was irrelevant unless the case sets a precedent by which other business owners can seek recourse against tactics he considers "un-American."

"This case didn't take aim at just Mr. Tyler," he said. "It was intended to address any other business that resorts to those kinds of actions to win at their game unfairly."

(Editing by Colleen Jenkins and Cynthia Johnston)
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NYPrius1 · Nov 2, 2011

WoW, Hate even makes it's way into the car sales game. Glad to see TRUTH Wins Out.

KK6PD · Nov 2, 2011

Boom!!!

amm0bob · Nov 2, 2011

Good...

In high-end retail, the competition to get a closing deal doesn't mean that you can slander the other guy.

JimboPalmer · Nov 2, 2011

I get car ads that pretend to be government mail, I instantly know that dealer will lie to me to make a sale and I never need to visit him. Glad to see honesty is the best policy rewarded by making slander expensive.

daniel · Nov 2, 2011

The worst thing about this case was the dealer claiming that just because the other guy is from the Middle East, he must be a terrorist. This sort of bigotry is a plague, and is fueled by religious intolerance. It's good that the truth won out. Unfortunately, these large punitive damages are often overturned on appeal.

Owner of car dealership labeled "Taliban Toyota" wins millions

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Owner of car dealership labeled "Taliban Toyota" wins millions

sipnfuel New Member

NYPrius1 Active Member

KK6PD _ . _ . / _ _ . _

amm0bob Permanently Junior...

JimboPalmer Tsar of all the Rushers

daniel Cat Lovers Against the Bomb