January 8, 2001

Ford Visits Tire Settlement Case Victim

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REUTERSFiled at 5:15 p.m. ET
CHICAGO (Reuters) - In an unusual gesture, Ford Motor Co. (F.N) lawyers
met personally with a Texas woman paralyzed in the crash of a Ford
Explorer fitted with Firestone tires as part of a settlement of her
lawsuit scheduled to go to trial on Monday.
A videotape released by lawyers for the woman showed Ford officials
standing by the bedside of Donna Bailey, the 44-year-old crash victim who
is quadriplegic and breathes through a ventilator as a result of the March
accident.
Her personal injury case would have been the first to go to trial since
the Firestone recall in August of 6.5 million allegedly faulty tires
linked to fatal highway accidents and the deaths of 148 Americans. The
trial was to begin on Monday in Corpus Christi, Texas.
The personal visit to the victim was the most dramatic example yet of
Ford's aggressive effort to settle personal injury cases involving
Firestone tires on its sport utility vehicles, and to head off the public
airing of details at trial. In some instances recently, Ford has settled
cases even before victims have filed suit.
There have been more than 200 cases filed around the nation and Ford and
Firestone have been pummeled for months by bad publicity over the tire
recall.
The amount of money Bailey will receive was not disclosed but one of her
lawyers said it would take care of an estimated $26 million in medical
costs for the rest of her life.
Bailey was injured when the right rear tire tread separated on the Ford
Explorer in which she was a front-seat passenger, causing a rollover that
crushed her between the roof and the seat cushion. The mother of two
children was wearing a seat belt at the time of the crash and is now
paralyzed from the neck down.
Bailey's lawyer, Tab Turner, and a leading consumer group, said the
settlement marked a turning point because Ford was accepting some degree
of responsibility for the role of its SUVs in the crashes.
``Its a large step forward in terms of associating the decision-making in
the company with the harm that's caused,'' said Joan Claybrook, president
of the Washington, D.C.-based consumer advocacy group Public Citizen.
But Ford officials insisted that the visit to the victim did not mean that
the automaker was accepting responsibility for the crash that paralyzed
her.
``We're very sympathetic of course to Bailey and the Bailey family and
we're pleased that we have agreed to a settlement,'' Ford Chief Executive
Jacques Nasser told reporters in an interview during the media preview at
the North American International Auto Show in Detroit.
Firestone officials did not visit her. But John Lampe, the Chief Executive
of Firestone, a unit of Japan's Bridgestone Corp. (5108.T), sent a
hand-written note expressing his condolences.
``There is nothing any of us at Firestone can say or do to return to you
what you and your family have lost. All we can do is to try to help you
take care of your needs and those of your family. I am hopeful that with
this settlement you can begin to do so,'' Lampe wrote, according to a copy
provided to Reuters.
Nasser defended Ford's strategy of settling tire-related lawsuits, telling
reporters he saw no advantage to defending its Explorer in court. ``We
don't view it as a forum for making points or a debating society. These
are sad events for families and we're sympathetic to the plight that
they're in and we would like to relieve their anxiety as quickly as
possible. If there are mutual agreements that we can arrive at, that's
probably in the best interest of everyone,'' he said.
Ford spokeswoman Susan Krusel said the short visit of three Ford
representatives on Saturday was designed to answer any questions Bailey
might have regarding the settlement and to express condolences for her
accident. Krusel said Bailey expressed her gratitude for their visit.
Turner said Bailey would use part of the settlement money to equip her
home with the medical devices necessary to sustain her life.
``Significantly to Donna Bailey is that she can finally go home,'' Turner
said of the settlement.
Bailey's case is noteworthy because the Wilderness AT tire on the Ford
Explorer in which she was riding was manufactured at a Firestone plant in
Wilson, N.C. and was not covered by the recall.
Public Citizen last week issued a report calling on Firestone to nearly
double the size of the recall because it said Wilderness tires such as the
one on the SUV Bailey was riding in, also had caused rollover accidents.
Firestone spokesman Cliff Haas said the settlement would not lead to an
expansion of the tire recall. ``We have no facts or data to support taking
an action like that,'' he said.
The Texas court still must approve the settlement terms, said Dan
Adomitis, an attorney representing Firestone in Texas.
Shares of Ford closed off 2.38 percent, down 5/8 to $25-5/8 on the New
York Stock Exchange. The shares have a year-high of $32-11/16 and a year
low of $21-11/16.