Washington DC
CNN
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47 Hertz customers filed a lawsuit against the rental company for depicting horror stories after they were falsely accused of stealing their rental car, and in some cases were even arrested. imprisoned.
Plaintiffs accused of being blind to arrests – sometimes with guns – and in some cases jail time. Some of the plaintiffs described losing their jobs following the arrest.
The lawsuit alleges systematic flaws in Hertz’s reporting of thefts, including failure to document rental extensions, perjury to unpaid customers, failure to track one’s own vehicle inventory, and do not correct false reports to the police. The case was filed in the Supreme Court of Delaware and follows a court ruling that these cases can be pursued outside of bankruptcy court. (Hertz was submit bankruptcy in May 2020 before emerging in July 2021.)
Hertz said in a statement that it disagreed with the ruling allowing cases to be pursued outside of bankruptcy court and pledged to “do what’s right with our customers.”
“We are reviewing and reviewing each claim against Hertz on its individual merits,” said Hertz spokesman Jonathan Stern. “We have already begun expanding our settlement offer to dozens of plaintiffs and will continue to do so on a case-by-case basis.”
Hertz CEO Stephen Scherr admit in April that “several hundred people” were affected by the company’s error.
Some of the plaintiffs say they used Hertz’s rent to make a living by driving Uber or Lyft, or transporting their families. One plaintiff, Bianca DeLoach, describes being surrounded by police with guns drawn at a gas station in March 2021 while her children watched from inside the home she paid for. The complaint states that DeLoach spent nine nights in jail. The charges were dropped months later.
Another plaintiff, Mary Lindsay Flannery, said she was in a car she rented from Hertz in 2020 when the police pulled her over and told her the car had been stolen. The lawsuit alleges the vehicle was impounded. Flannery was unable to get an explanation from Hertz despite repeated attempts. She was arrested a few weeks later, leaving her daughter alone without her parents by her side because her father had been deployed abroad, according to the lawsuit.
Flannery had three panic attacks while in prison, being attacked by cellmates and bitten by bed bugs, the lawsuit says.
The criminal case against Flannery was dismissed and she was released after 14 days.
James Tolen was driving Hertz’s rental car in Houston in December 2020 when he was pulled over and asked to open the door, the lawsuit alleges.
“When he opened the door, at least four officers pointed guns at him. They made him lift his shirt, then pat him down and handcuff him to the back of the team car,” the complaint reads. “It was humiliating and terrifying.”
Police then called Hertz and learned the car was not stolen – Hertz reported the stolen car several months before renting it to Tolen’s then-partner, the lawsuit said.
Reginald Brown, the driver of the car he rented from Hertz to Lyft, was jailed overnight and lost his full-time job while being prosecuted, the lawsuit said. The lawsuit against him was dismissed nearly two years later, the lawsuit said.
Lyft and Uber did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Darnay Taper spent two nights in jail last year after being towed by eight police cars in March 2021 while renting a home in Hertz and held at gunpoint, according to the lawsuit. The lawsuit says Taper, who has a heart condition, was denied use of his medication while in prison. The lawsuit against Taper was dismissed months later after Hertz failed to present at the preliminary hearing, the lawsuit alleges.
