A product liability suit was filed when a Kia Soul EV rolled out of a garage unattended. Plaintiff sought to compel the defendant, Kia America, Inc., to obtain relevant documents from its parent corporation, Kia Corporation, which was not a party to the case.  Finding that Kia America had “control” over the relevant documents within the meaning of Rule 34, the Magistrate Judge found that Kia America had the legal right under the Distributorship Agreement between Kia America and Kia Corporation (and also the authority or ability) to obtain from Kia Corporation documents pertaining to the design, development, manufacturing, operation, and functionality of components and systems in Kia vehicles.

District Court Judge Brimmer, however, reversed:

“Section 7.2 outlines the parties’ contractual responsibilities in relation to Kia America’s preparation of service materials. In order to assist Kia America in preparing the service materials, Kia Corporation must, upon request by Kia America, provide service materials and engineering drawings to Kia America. While Kia America arguably has a legal right to request engineering drawings to assist its preparation of service materials, nothing in the Distributorship Agreement suggests that Kia America has the legal right to request engineering drawings or other materials from Kia Corporation for reasons that do not relate to its preparation of service materials, much less documents related to a third party’s request for documents for litigation purposes. Similarly, the Distributorship Agreement also states that: ‘Upon request by KIA AMERICA, KIA CORPORATION shall make available the following types of service assistance in a timely manner: … (2) supplying drawings, vehicles components and related information necessary for development of dealer special tool requirements and (3) supplying any other service information or assistance necessary for KIA AMERICA to fulfill its obligations under this Agreement.’ The language is not a catch-all provision giving Kia America the legal right to obtain documents regarding the design of the transmission of the 2016 Kia Soul EV Plus. Rather, this provision gives Kia America the ability to request documents related to its duty to provide service to Kia vehicles. There is no evidence that Kia America has ever made a request for design documents for vehicle transmissions in order to service Kia vehicles or that it had or has any need for such documents. The mere fact that Kia America has the ‘ability’ to ask Kia Corporation for such documents does not demonstrate that it has the legal right to obtain them pursuant to the terms of the Distributorship Agreement.”

 

Vaughn v. Kia America, No.22-1690, 2024 WL 2274084 (D.Colo. May 20, 2024).