"Toyota sued in Calif. over acceleration deaths"

[Williamyh]

Hi Everybody,

Do you have confusion when you see this topic "Toyota sued in Calif. over acceleration deaths"? When I read this topic, I thought Toyota was suing someone in Calif, but actually Toyota was sued by someone....do you think there is a problem in this topic?

Toyota sued in Calif. over acceleration deaths - Yahoo! Finance

[Raymott]

Hi Everybody,

Do you have confusion when you see this topic "Toyota sued in Calif. over acceleration deaths"? When I read this topic, I thought Toyota was suing someone in Calif, but actually Toyota was sued by someone....do you think there is a problem in this topic?

Toyota sued in Calif. over acceleration deaths - Yahoo! Finance

No, there's no problem here. That's standard newspaper English.
"Man killed in accident" doesn't mean that the man killed anyone.
"Streep awarded best actress Oscar" doesn't mean that Streep awarded the Oscar to someone else.

It means "A Man was killed ..."; "Streep was awarded ..."; "Toyota was sued..."

[Williamyh]

No, there's no problem here. That's standard newspaper English.
"Man killed in accident" doesn't mean that the man killed anyone.
"Streep awarded best actress Oscar" doesn't mean that Streep awarded the Oscar to someone else.

It means "A Man was killed ..."; "Streep was awarded ..."; "Toyota was sued..."

Raymott, thank you very much for letting me know it's newspaper English. But I want to know if Toyota is really suing someone/something, how the newspaper should write in the topic?

[Raymott]

Raymott, thank you very much for letting me know it's newspaper English. But I want to know if Toyota is really suing someone/something, how the newspaper should write in the topic?

Toyota sues suppliers over brake failures.
Brake company sued by Toyota.