Full appeals court affirms rejection of Ford-Firestone class action

CHICAGO (June 11)—The full 11-judge panel of the U.S. Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals has upheld the earlier decision of three of its members to reject a motion to create an economic class action against Ford Motor Co. and Bridgestone/Firestone Inc. Plaintiffs' attorneys wanted certification to pursue millions of claims against Ford and Firestone for loss of value and other economic issues surrounding Ford Explorers equipped with Firestone tires. But the three-judge appeals panel overturned the certification by Indianapolis federal district judge Sarah Evans Barker. "This decision confirms what we have been saying all along: The circumstances of these claims are far too varied to justify class certification," Bridgestone/Firestone said in a prepared statement. Don Barrett, the Lexington, Miss. plaintiffs´ attorney who led the motion for a class action, said he will appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court. Meanwhile, the lead attorneys in the class action are now filing class action suits in California, Arkansas, Wisconsin, Tennessee, Florida, New Jersey, Connecticut and Illinois, he said.