Toyota chalks a win against 'whistleblower'

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- Toyota Motor Sales Inc. has been awarded $2.6 million in an arbitration case against a former attorney for the automaker. The attorney, Dimitrios Biller, had accused Toyota in court cases and in the media, of covering up safety defects in its vehicles.

In making his accusations, Biller had relied on internal Toyota documents. Biller discussed confidential Toyota legal matters on his public Website and with media outlets and he shared confidential documents with other attorneys, the ruling said. Biller also supplied documents to Congressional investigators.

"Throughout this process, Mr. Biller has continuously made misleading and inaccurate allegations about Toyota's conduct," Christopher Reynolds, Group Vice President and General Counsel for Toyota said in a statement, "and we feel this award is an appropriate consequence of his actions and completely discredits his meritless attacks on our company and our people."

Toyota was awarded $250,000 for each of 10 unauthorized disclosures made by Biller plus an additional $100,000 in punitive damages.

Biller worked for Toyota from 2003 to 2007 as part of a team dealing with SUV rollover cases. When he left, he received a $3.7 million severance package.

The ruling does not deal with whether or not Biller's accusations -- primarily, that Toyota unlawfully withheld certain documents -- are true. The ruling deals only with Biller's accessing and sharing of internal Toyota legal documents which he had previously agreed to keep confidential.

The arbitrator ruled entirely in favor of Toyota and against Biller's own claims that the automaker had defamed him.

The harm to Toyota from Biller's disclosure's "is real and extensive," the ruling said.

Biller has been ordered to return all Toyota documents in his possession. Under the ruling, Biller is also forbidden to voluntarily participate in any legal actions against Toyota.

The ruling gives Toyota permission to publicize the arbitrator's decision because of previous "unauthorized public disclosures."

"Those disclosures appear to have been one-sided, with prejudice to Toyota," the ruling said.

While the arbitrator's ruling did not deal directly with accusations of wrongdoing on Toyota's part, a review of the documents in 2009 by a Texas attorney intent in suing Toyota found the documents did not show Toyota to have done anything illegal.

In 2009, Texas attorney Todd Tracy threatened, based on Biller's allegations, to reopen 17 legal cases against Toyota. After reviewing Biller's documents however, Tracy issued a statement saying he would not reopen the cases because Biller's documents failed to show any wrongdoing by Toyota.

Attempts to reach Biller have been unsuccessful.