Truck Rollover Lawsuit Verdict Of $1.7 Billion Prompts Ford To Want A Fresh Trial.
Ford Motor
Following a $1.7 billion verdict against the automaker in a truck rollover accident last month, Ford Motor Co. has asked a Georgia court for a new trial.
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Ford said in fresh court documents filed on Monday that the company was unfairly prevented from presenting data that would have shown the truck involved in the deadly incident was safe and the roof structure was stronger than many of its contemporaries.
Two family members of the plaintiffs were murdered in an accident in 2014. The family filed a lawsuit against Ford claiming that the truck's roof was defectively designed and might easily give way in a rollover accident.
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Earlier this week, Ford contended that a state judge had effectively banned the firm from defending itself against charges that the truck's roof design was defective.
Ford also claimed in court documents that it failed to provide sufficient evidence that the occupants were not wearing seat belts, which it had claimed was a contributing cause in the deaths. Theodore Boutrous, an attorney representing Ford, stated, "Ford didn't get to put its case on." To paraphrase, "It had one hand on its weapon and the other on its back."
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On Monday, Ford submitted two separate motions to the Gwinnett County court in Georgia. The August punitive damages awarded to the firm were contested in one move, while a new trial was sought in the other. Attorney for the plaintiffs James Butler stated that he will respond to Ford's arguments in these papers and that Ford does not have a defence to provide.
In 2014, when the Hills were making their way home from their Georgia farm, they were involved in a deadly car crash. According to court papers, the couple's heavy-duty truck flipped after the right front tyre burst.
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James Butler, the plaintiffs' counsel, testified that the Hills were crushed within the truck. At trial, attorneys for the Hill family claimed that the firm knew the roofs it had installed on its Super-Duty trucks from 1999 to 2016 were defectively designed and dangerously fragile. In a pretrial order, plaintiffs' lawyers also claimed that 162 cases have been filed against Ford over roof-crush occurrences in vehicles from that model year.
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Mr. Boutrous argued that injuries in a severe rollover incident can be caused by things other than the roof design. Additionally, he stated that Ford has been successful in four other claims involving rollover occurrences involving Ford trucks. According to him, a jury heard evidence in three of the cases.
Ford's attorneys claimed in court documents that their client's negligence caused the tyre of the Hill's truck to break because it was rated for too much weight. Ford claimed that Mr. Hill's truck left the road at a "dangerous angle" because of faulty steering when a tyre punctured.
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