HOUSTON--State District Judge Donald Floyd Monday approved a $149 million settlement of 30 class-action suits against Bridgestone-Firestone North American Tire, reported The Detroit News.
The settlement requires Firestone to pay about $70 million to replace tires, $41 million to manufacture specific tires with materials that provide better high-speed capacity, $15.5 million on a consumer education and awareness campaign and $19 million for attorney fees. Bridgestone-Firestone also paid $3.5 million to notify plaintiffs of the settlement plan.
The 45 named plaintiffs could receive up to $2,500 each. Those who owned one of the 22 defective brands between 1991 and 2001 qualify to have their tires replaced.
Over 100 objectors had fought the settlement. Attorney Mitchell Toups said he and other objectors plan to appeal to Beaumont's 9th Court of Appeals.
"The settlement is not fair and reasonable. This is really no settlement at all. Everything in the settlement was already being done by Firestone," said Toups.
"We are pleased with the judge's decision," said Firestone spokesman Dan MacDonald. "We believe that this settlement really is in the best interest of all concerned."
In 2000, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration recalled 14.4 million Firestone tires for safety reasons. These included Firestone ATX, ATX II and Wilderness AT tires. At least 271 traffic deaths were blamed on the tires, most of which were on the Ford Explorer.
