Fla. court sets Aug. 25 hearing for Firestone class action

FORT MYERS, Fla. (Aug. 15)—Aug. 25 is the date the Lee County, Fla., circuit court will hold a hearing on whether to certify a class-action lawsuit on behalf of all owners of Firestone ATX, ATX II and Wilderness tires. "The court should either issue a bench ruling, or rule shortly thereafter," said Alexander Barnett of the Washington, D.C., law firm of Cohen, Milstein, Hausfeld & Toll. Cohen Milstein and the Fort Myers-based Viles Law Firm jointly filed the class-action motion Aug. 8, asking for damages of between $15,000 and $74,999 for each ATX, ATX II and Wilderness owner. Keeping the upper damage figure below $75,000, Barnett said, makes it more difficult for Bridgestone/Firestone Inc. to argue that the class action asserts any federal question. The company estimates it has manufactured 48 million ATX, ATX II and Wilderness tires since 1991. It announced a recall involving 6.5 million of those tires Aug. 9.