[Sacramento Bee] Plaintiffs' lawyers turned down a settlement offer from the Ford Motor Co. in the middle of jury deliberations and were rewarded Nov. 10 with a verdict that found the auto giant liable for $73 million in damages.
With a verdict believed to be the largest of its kind in Sacramento history, plaintiff attorney Roger Dreyer said the jury's message established a resounding standard on holding giant corporations such as Ford accountable. The case, he said, demanded public accountability, for what he characterized as a major corporation's "despicable" conduct in failing to notify consumers its vehicles were equipped with defective tires subject to a recall.
"If we would have talked resolution with Ford, they would have required it to be confidential, such that the public would never know what this jury determined," Dreyer said.
In a 10-2 vote, the jury found Ford negligent for the Apr. 9, 2004, crash that killed two members of the Fair Oaks Presbyterian Church and injured two more.
On the way home from a statewide musical tour, the church caravan had just pulled onto I-5 at the bottom of the Grapevine for the final stretch on its return home to the Sacramento area.
Witnesses at trial said the 15-passenger E-350 Econoline van began to shake, the result of a tread separation on the same type of tire that Goodyear, two years earlier, had notified Ford was defective.
Goodyear had settled with the plaintiff’s previously and was not involved in the suit.
Driver William Brownell, 48, pulled the van into the center median, and when he tried to turn back to the right, the vehicle spun sideways and rolled over four times, killing him and his front seat passenger, Tony Mauro, 41.
Plaintiffs charged in their 2006 lawsuit against Ford that the company never told its dealers about Goodyear's 2002 notification that the tire was the subject of a replacement program.
Dreyer, in his arguments at the close of trial, said Ford sat on the information, because at the time the company was coming off the $2 billion Ford/Firestone recall. The last thing it needed, he said, was more bad publicity about defective tires and vehicles prone to rollovers.
The Sacramento Superior Court jury found the argument persuasive.
Ford issued a statement saying it plans to appeal. The company said it was "disappointed" and characterized the reward as "unfair." The company's lawyers argued during trial that the deaths would not have occurred if Brownell and Mauro had been wearing their seat belts.
Jurors did find that Mauro, like Brownell, was not wearing a seat belt. But the panel determined that wearing a seat belt would not have mattered, Martin said.
Mauro's wife and two sons were awarded $17.5 million by the jury. The panel held Ford responsible for 59% of the fault and Goodyear 41%. Goodyear, which already has settled with the plaintiffs, was not a defendant.
Plaintiff Marlene Shirley, who sustained severe abdominal injuries, was awarded a separate $5.2 million. She had her seat belt loosely fastened while she slept on a middle seat. Ford's lawyers said the loosely fastened belt was the reason for her injuries. The jury found Shirley 1% responsible, Ford 58.5% and Goodyear 40.5%.
A third plaintiff, Alexander Bessonov, who suffered lacerations, was awarded $292,000.