Ford, Firestone fight class-action ruling Firms hope to block group suit covering owners of SUVs, tires

Last November, U.S. District Judge Sarah Evans Barker certifiedclass-action status for the lawsuit, in which none of the plaintiffssuffered either physical injury or property damage. In appealing,Ford lawyers called it a "crazy-quilt class" and a "mishmash."

The case stems from the recall of millions of Firestone tiressince August 2000, mostly on Explorer sport-utility vehicles, aftercomplaints the tires failed and the SUVs rolled over.

Barker ruled that the class action could cover virtually allowners of Explorers built from 1990 to 2001 and people who bought anyof 60 million Firestone tires from 53 different product lines.Plaintiff's lawyers say these people paid more for their vehicles andtires than they would have had they known about safety issues, thatthe Explorers have lower resale value and that both Explorer andFirestone owners have breach-of-warranty claims.

Much of Wednesday's arguments to the appeals court centered onwhether Barker is right to apply Michigan's consumer-protection lawto the Ford part of the case because Ford is based in Michigan. Thetire side of the case would be tried according to state law inTennessee, where Bridgestone/Firestone is based. Usually, consumer-protection cases are heard in the states where they occurred. Nofederal laws apply.

The appeals court is expected to rule within a month.

Gannett News Service