MILWAUKEE—Continental A.G. is not liable in an accident in which a woman was rendered paraplegic, the Wisconsin Court of Appeals ruled in overturning a $12 million judgment against Conti. Christine Morden claimed the Continental snow tires on the rear of her Volkswagen Vanagon were defective.
Those tires blew out after hitting a bump in March 1991, while Ms. Morden, her husband and four children were on vacation in Florida.
The original trial jury found Conti negligent in product testing, as Ms. Morden and her attorney, Robert Slattery, claimed.
Contacted at his office in Waukesha, Wis., Mr. Slattery said he will appeal the case to the Wisconsin Supreme Court. ``The Mordens have just been through hell, and that will continue until this case is finally resolved,'' he said.
Mr. Slattery also claimed the German tire maker admitted that the Mordens' rear tires suffered circumferential belt separation prior to the blowout.
A Continental spokesman, however, said he didn't know where Mr. Slattery got the idea the company had admitted such a thing.
``The only issue was whether they could prove Conti made a defective product,'' the spokesman said. ``They were unable to do so.''
Conti is ``extremely happy'' at the appeals court's ruling, he added.
Continental is the parent company of Continental General Tire in the U.S.