LAWRENCEVILLE, Ga. — A Gwinnett County jury on Friday ordered Ford Motor Co. to pay more than $1.7 billion in damages stemming from a 2014 rollover crash that killed a Georgia couple.
Gerald Davidson, an attorney for the family, confirmed to Bloomberg that Friday’s verdict concluded a 14-day state trial, noting that the punitive damages were handed down one day after the jury awarded the family of Melvin and Voncile Hill $24 million in compensatory damages and “allocated 70% of the blame to Ford.”
The jury determined that the automaker owed the damages for selling 5.2 million Super Duty trucks with what plaintiffs’ attorneys called “dangerously weak” roofs that could crush passengers in a rollover accident, plaintiffs’ lawyer James Butler told The Wall Street Journal.
According to the newspaper, the Hills were driving a 2002 Ford F-250 Super Duty truck from their farm in Reynolds, Georgia, when the right front tire blew out and the truck rolled over. The Hills were fatally crushed inside the truck, Butler added.
Meanwhile, a Ford spokesman confirmed Saturday the company’s intention to appeal the punitive damages.
“While our sympathies go out to the Hill family, we don’t believe the verdict is supported by the evidence, and we plan to appeal,” the spokesman stated, according to the Journal.
In Georgia, 75% of proceeds from punitive damage verdicts go to the state, while the balance is split between the plaintiffs and the lawyers, Bloomberg reported.
According to the Journal, damages in these types of cases typically run in the millions of dollars, and many are settled out of court. It is also not unusual for high-dollar verdicts to later be reduced by judges or appellate courts.
“The Hill family is glad this part of the case is finally over,” Butler told the newspaper, adding, “They intend to persevere and make Ford pay.”
According to data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Ford has issued 49 recalls this year, the most of any auto maker, the Journal reported.
“We continue to be hampered by recalls and customer-satisfaction actions,” Ford CEO Jim Farley said during a July earnings call. “This affects our cost but more importantly, it falls short on our most fundamental commitment to our customers.”
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