INDIANAPOLIS (Nov. 29, 2001)—An Indianapolis federal judge has granted class-action status to product liability lawsuits involving millions of customers of Ford Motor Co. and Bridgestone/Firestone Inc.
Judge Sarah Evans Barker certified participation in the class action for anyone who owned or leased a 1991-2001 Ford Explorer on or before Aug. 9, 2000, and also for owners or leasees of vehicles equipped with Firestone ATX, ATX II, Firehawk ATX, ATX 23 Degree, Widetrack Radial Baja and Wilderness tires between 1990 and the present.
Nashville, Tenn.-based Bridgestone/Firestone fought vigorously against the certification, claiming the potential cases were too dissimilar to allow a class action certification.
Stock prices for Japan's Bridgestone Corp., parent of BFS, fell more than 4 percent on the Tokyo stock market after the certification was announced.