By ED RONCO
The State News
When manufacturing engineering senior Jennifer Cody graduates in May she will be going to work for Ford Motor Co., but she doesn’t know if she would buy its product.
A settlement involving both money and public disclosure of information was reached Monday in the case of Donna Bailey, a paralyzed woman seeking $100 million from Bridgestone/Firestone Inc. and Ford Motor Co. for injuries sustained in March.
It would have been the first lawsuit of its kind to go to trial since Bridgestone/Firestone tires were first recalled last August.
The settlement was announced by lawyers for Bailey and the two companies.
Financial terms were not disclosed but according to attorneys for Bailey, the settlement calls for an acceptance of responsibility and an apology by Ford, and requires both Ford and Firestone to publicly disclose any additional information from the tire recall investigation.
Ford representatives visited Bailey in her hospital room Sunday night and delivered the apology she had sought.
“(The settlement) is enough to take care of her for the rest of her life,” said Mikal C. Watts, one of Bailey’s attorneys.
Watts also pointed out that money was not the reason for the lawsuit.
“She does not want her case to stand merely for someone who wanted a monetary award. She wanted to advance public safety and protect lives,” he said.
But that doesn’t have Cody convinced.
“I don’t know where the problem lies,” Cody said. “I’d make sure I did my research.” As for the tires, Cody says she “probably wouldn’t buy them.”
She isn’t alone.
Haslett resident Lily Gee said the August recall of 6.5 million tires was enough to stop her from purchasing tires from Bridgestone/Firestone.
“Under no circumstances will Firestone ever have my confidence,” Gee said Monday while waiting at Discount Tire, 2060 W. Grand River Ave. in Okemos, for her new Goodyear tires.
Bailey, 44, of Portland, Texas, was paralyzed from the neck down in the March 10 crash. She was a passenger in a friend’s Ford Explorer when the vehicle rolled over after the tread separated from a Firestone tire.
However, Bailey’s lawyers said the tires involved in her crash were not among those specified in the recall. Watts said he hopes this settlement will help expand the recall to other Firestone tires.
“We are pleased to have resolved this case with Donna Bailey and we extend our sympathies to her and her family,” Ford spokeswoman Susan Krusel said.
Christine Karbowiak, vice president for public affairs at Bridgestone/Firestone, issued a statement saying the company was pleased to settle because “protracted litigation would serve no useful purpose.”
“Our hearts go out to Ms. Bailey,” Karbowiak said.
Karbowiak said the settlement did not indicate there were problems with tires made by the Nashville, Tenn., company that weren’t involved in the recall.
The recall followed a string of rollover accidents, more than 200 of them fatal, in the United States and several other countries.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
