From Canadian Press
TORONTO — Up to 400,000 Canadians might be driving Ford vehicles with faulty door latches that could lead to serious injury or death, according to a class-action lawsuit commenced Tuesday against Ford Motor Co., Magna International and several of its subsidiaries.
The suit is seeking $527 million in punitive damages plus the cost of replacing the latches, which a lawyer for the plaintiffs said is estimated at $1,300 for a four-door vehicle.
The legal claim, launched in Ontario Superior Court by Will Barristers Morin & Miller, says Ford and its subcontractors have known since 1995 about faulty door latches on four Ford models, including Ford’s top-selling pickup truck, the F-150.
The lawsuit has not been certified as a class-action and the allegations have not been proved.
According to the lawsuit, during crashes the door or doors on the side of the vehicle that was not hit have been reported to spring open.
The claim is seeking payment to replace latches on about four million light trucks and SUVs in the U.S. and 300,000 to 400,000 more in Canada.
“If you just do the numbers, it’s a very expensive recall,” said Paul Miller with Toronto-based Will Barristers.
“So, as alleged in the claim, they put profits ahead of people because it was cheaper to fight the lawsuits than issue the recall,” Miller said.
Miller’s firm would represent Canadian Ford owners, while Motley Rice LLC in South Carolina would represent the Americans.
Vehicles with the alleged defect, from the 1997 model year to 2000, are the Ford F-150, Ford F-250 Super Light Duty, Ford Expedition, Lincoln Navigator and Blackwood.
Ford spokeswoman Kathleen Vokes said the allegations were unfounded.
“The latches passed all federal requirements and so there’s no need for a recall,” Vokes said from Dearborn, Mich. “There’s no defect.”
Ford maintains its door latches passed a crash test designed in 1967 -one of two tests approved by U.S. authorities -and therefore is not required to recall the vehicles.
However, Miller maintains the 1967 “pulse test” is not as stringent as the other test, which applies heavy force to the vehicle.
“If they have concerns with testing procedures, or methodology, that’s a completely different issue, but Ford met or exceeded all requirements,” Vokes said.
The lawsuit also says that autoparts giant Magna and its subsidiaries Magna Donnelly Corp., Donnelly Corp., Dortec Industries, Intier Automotive Inc. and Atoma Latching Systems Group, “knew that their respective designs and equipment they manufactured did not comply” with the Canadian and American safety standards.
Magna spokesman Louis Tonelli said the company does not comment on litigation.
Maurice Poulin, the lead plaintiff in the lawsuit, said the door on his F-150 pickup truck opens too easily.
“You barely touch the handle on the outside of the truck and the door opens by itself,” said Poulin, 54, a retired Inco Ltd. worker who lives an hour’s drive southeast of Sudbury, Ont.
“I try to keep it locked all the time, but I don’t know if it helps or not.”
Poulin said he’s looking for Ford to pay to fix the latch on his truck, a 1997 model with 185,000 kilometres on it.
“They should have done something before, not wait until there’s an accident or somebody killed or something.”
Internal Ford documents that Miller and the Motley Rice lawyers will use in their arguments came to light in May when a Texas law firm sued Ford over the deaths of two sisters after a rollover accident in their Ford, Miller said. Ford settled with the families for an undisclosed amount.
Shares in Magna closed up 85 cents Tuesday afternoon on the Toronto stock market at $101.85.
Copyright The Canadian Press, 2004. All Rights Reserved.
_______________________________________
Click here to view the rest of today’s headlines.
