Product liability verdict against manufacturer of $800,000.00 motor home is upheld

Anthony McNeal sued the Blue Bird Corporation after the nearly-million-dollar mobile home he bought was too heavy to operate on the highway.  McNeal was forced to deliver the motor home to the Georgia manufacturer,  whose executives voiced an intent to relocate a generator from above the front axle to a rear storage area. McNeal rejected the planned revision and sued the manufacturer for breach of warranty.  Ultimately he prevailed in a trial and was awarded attorney fees of $100,000.00.  Blue Bird appealed the verdict and he appealed the trial judge's limitation on his fees.  The Appeals panel confirmed the lower court's rulings, holding that under the Consumer Protection Act, fees could be awarded even without a showing of compensatory damages, but that the judge properly took into account the "totality of damages" in assessing fees.