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Florida attorneys seek class-action status for Firestone lawsuit

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- A hearing before a circuit court judge is set for Friday in a Florida lawsuit that seeks unspecified monetary damages and the barring of future sales of potentially defective tires made by Bridgestone/Firestone, Inc.

The tires are standard on thousands of trucks and sport utility vehicles made by the Ford Motor Co. for domestic use.

Mary Pat Viles, a Fort Myers, Florida, attorney, said Thursday she will ask the Lee County Circuit Court judge to certify the lawsuit, which currently names one plaintiff, for class-action status.

A class-action lawsuit names one or a few plaintiffs but seeks the secure damages and other benefits to an entire "class" of affected people.

VIDEO Attorneys in Firestone class action lawsuit introduce the issues Play video (Real or Windows Media only) CNN's Charles Bierbauer looks at the liability and culpability issues in the tire failure incidents Play video (QuickTime, Real or Windows Media) CNN's Susan Candiotti reports on the shutdown Play video (QuickTime, Real or Windows Media)

ALSO Burden of Proof transcript: Lawsuits building against Ford and Bridgestone Ford details recall progress   MESSAGE BOARD What should government agencies do to improve product safety? Product safety/Firestone

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In this case, Viles said she wants the court's permission to include a class of potentially millions of motorists across the United States who drive Ford vehicles equipped with the 15-inch ATX, ATX II, and Wilderness AT tire models.

Viles also urged Firestone to expand its August 9 recall order to include ATX models in 14-17 inch tires. She said she has strong evidence showing that those tires also have structural flaws that could result in the tires essentially splitting open at normal driving speeds.

Viles said she filed the lawsuit August 8, one day before the Firestone recall.

Firestone has recalled 6.5 million 15-inch tires only. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has said it is investigating whether tire shredding was responsible for more than 60 deaths nationwide.

"The injustice, as we basically have alleged, (is that) consumers are left holding five defective tires; they don't have any avenue to seek legal recourse individually," Viles said.

She said Ford and Firestone's assertions that the tires are safe and that the recall is more to satisfy customer concerns are "just a travesty and it makes me sick."

Thursday afternoon, Ford officials said they finished about 13 percent of the recalls, replacing more than 80,000 tires on Ford vehicles, adding that the pace of recall has been better than expected.

Ford spokesman Jason Vines on Thursday rejected calls for expanded recalls. He said data shows that only the recalled models may be potentially flawed.

"We want to replace bad tires, not good tires," he told reporters in Ford's headquarters in Dearborn, Michigan. "And for those groups out there that are calling for an expansion of the recall without any data, it's careless and it's irresponsible because they are scaring people."

Consultant tests

Max Nonnamaker, a former Firestone employee who owns a tire- and wheel-consulting business in Akron, Ohio, said his tests of Firestone tires show that the problem lies with the rubber used to bond the steel belts in tires.

He has been hired by Mary and Marcus Viles as an expert.

The rubber used was past the expiration date and caused a weak bond, he said. With usage, the steel belt has the potential to come apart and the tread to peel off the tire, he alleged.

He added the problem seems particularly acute in the Wilderness model tires made in a Decatur, Illinois, plant. He added that such problems also occur in tires made by other manufacturers, but not as frequently in the Firestone models.

Nonnamaker said he worked for Firestone from 1951 to 1956, and part of his duties included directing truck tire design. After working for other companies, he said he opened his consulting business 26 years ago.

He said he has helped Firestone in 250 cases, as late as the 1980s, and that he has appeared as a defense and plaintiffs' witness in numerous cases. He said he has received four patents for tire products.

Firestone spokesman Ken Fields told CNN, "He has not testified on our behalf in at least 15 years." He called Nonnamaker "a professional plaintiffs witness," adding, "To my knowledge, he's never been involved in the production of a radial tire."

Plaintiff's attorney Marcus Viles told a Thursday morning news conference in Fort Myers that the current Firestone recall was "inadequate, incomplete, and misleading."

He said the lawsuit contained documents that showed Ford had taken the Firestone tires off its Explorer SUVs in seven countries and replaced them with tires from another manufacturer, never telling U.S. consumers of the action.

Nonnamaker has also given depositions in other lawsuits. Attorneys filing wrongful death and personal injury lawsuits against the tire maker also deposed four other former Firestone employees Wednesday.

Firestone denounced the four as disgruntled former employees who quit Firestone during a bitter strike in the mid-1990s.

Tire airlift from Asia

Firestone has begun airlifting tires from its Japanese plants to satisfy overwhelming demand in the U.S. The first flight left Wednesday, and 10 more flights are planned before Monday.

In a change from the original recall directive, Firestone is allowing motorists to replace their tires through other tire dealers, instead of authorized Firestone outlets.

In a letter posted on the company's Web site, CEO Masatoshi Ono said Firestone is "deeply committed" to consumer safety because "some of them are our own children, husbands, friends and employees."

Consumers can call 1-800-465-1904 to ask questions about the recall or visit www.firestone.com, the letter said.

Florida drivers may drop class action lawsuit
August 18, 2000
Higher death toll from accidents involving Firestone tires, NHTSA says
August 15, 2000
Florida drivers want Firestone to replace tires immediately
August 14, 2000
Firestone recall, plant come under fire
August 13, 2000

Center for Auto Safety
Bridgestone/Firestone
Ford Motor Company
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

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