Hertz sues customers for theft and settles: incredible story
Hertz has decided to settle more than 30 ongoing lawsuits with its customers after the investigation brought by [...]
Hertz has decided to settle more than 30 ongoing lawsuits with its customers after an investigation brought by Action News. A common thread links all these events, viz. Company's accusation of theft of rented vehicles. The users in question deny that this ever happened, pointing out that these are unfounded reconstructions. The cases that have caused the most uproar are, of course, those who have even been arrested and imprisoned. This is the case of Kelly Grady, not the only one unfortunately, who in 2017 had explained to the editors that he had spent as many as 12 days in jail.
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The first time the investigation saw the light of day was in 2018 ,but today it is back with great interest, given the decision to Hertz to settle, thus trying to close and forget this maxi scandal.
A traumatic arrest
January 2021 Saleema Lovelace was arrested. The scene was captured by the officer's bodycam, which then handcuffed her. The intervention was triggered by a report that the car the woman was driving had been stolen. Lovelace explained that she had rented the vehicle from a Hertz subsidiary, Dollar Car Rental. Long-term use. Six months at the time of the arrest. A necessity due to a previous accident. The woman was interviewed by Action New: "When they grabbed me, that was the part that hit me the most and bothered me the most. I was walking backwards, knowing that there was a gun pointed at me and my father was in the car."
She recounted how, the day before her arrest, she made an appointment for an inspection of the car's condition with Hertz, which charged about $4,000 to her account. Many of the alleged victims are represented by the lawyer Francis Malofly, who commented on the matter, "In 2017, when ABC first reported the facts, it went from one case to two, and today there are more than 330 across the country." According to him, there is a faulty payment and reporting system by Hertz. He pointed out that some customers have spent 7 months in jail, some one day, some beaten in jail, and some sexually assaulted. Kelly Grady is one of these victims and for her 12 days in jail she received $100,000 in compensation. During that time, however, she was humiliated, frightened, gang-assaulted, and sexually assaulted.
Hertz's words.
In April 2022 came the public words of the CEO of Hertz, Stephen Scherr who admitted there was a problem and said he was ready to correct the situation. "It is a priority of the company." To date, an initial round of compensation offers has come in for more than 30 people. A company spokesperson explained how it is Hertz's intention to reach an appropriate solution in the coming months: "We are reviewing every claim. We expect some offers from us to be higher than the claim and some significantly lower. We want to do the right thing for our customers."
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