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Ford loses appeal of Explorer rollover verdict

Posted on Jul 20, 2006

Ford loses appeal of Explorer rollover verdict By Margaret Cronin Fisk Bloomberg News Published July 19, 2006, 5:28 PM CDT A California appeals court rejected Ford Motor Co.'s request that it throw out a verdict in favor of a woman paralyzed when a Ford Explorer rolled over. The court cut the already reduced jury award to $82.6 million. A San Diego jury had awarded Benetta Buell-Wilson and her husband $369 million, including $246 million in punitive damages, in June 2004. The trial court later cut the judgment to $150 million. Ford had asked for a further reduction, or a reversal of the original verdict and a new trial. The California Court of Appeal for the Fourth Appellate District denied Ford's motion while cutting the remaining award by almost half, ruling that the damages were excessive. Dearborn, Michigan-based Ford said it will appeal. "We think the court made several key errors,' said Ford attorney Theodore J. Boutrous Jr. The trial court ``prevented the jury from seeing the Explorer's real safety record.' The 2004 verdict was the first ever in an Explorer rollover case, after Ford had won the first 13 that went to trial. The original award was the second-highest in U.S. history in an automobile products liability claim, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Buell-Wilson's attorneys Lou Arnell and Dennis Schoville didn't return calls for comment. Buell-Wilson, then a 46-year-old graduate student, was injured in January 2002 when her 1997 Explorer flipped over as she tried to go around an obstruction on a California highway. Wilson and her husband said the Explorer's design made it prone to roll over during common evasive maneuvers. They also claimed the vehicle's roof was too weak to withstand a rollover. Explorer U.S. sales fell 29 percent last year and dropped another 29 percent in the first half of 2006. The Chevrolet TrailBlazer, made by General Motors Corp., last year surpassed the Explorer as the best-selling sport utility vehicle in the U.S. for the first time in 15 years. Ford shares fell 11 cents to $6.33 in New York Stock Exchange composite trading. Ford shares have fallen 41 percent in the past year. Shares of Detroit-based GM rose 81 cents to $28.52. The lawsuit is Buell-Wilson v. Ford Motor Co., No. D045154, in the California Court of Appeal for the Fourth Appellate District. --With reporting by Karen Gullo in San Francisco and Bill Koenig in Southfield, Michigan.