Transcript - Ford TFI Litigation - Fox News Chicago- October 13, 2000

Ford TFI Litigation
FOX News 32
October 13, 2000
9 P.M.

Reporter: The Ford Motor Company is facing still more legal trouble tonight. It is now become the target of a nationwide class-action lawsuit involving ignition switches in more than 20 million Ford vehicles. The lawsuit was filed today, here in Chicago. Larry Yellen has the story.

Wilma Lily: He could not get his car started. That gave them an opportunity to block him in, and he ended up being shot 6 times.

Larry Yellen: When Wilma Lily describes how her husband was wounded during a roadside robbery 3 years ago, she does blame the robbers but now she is also blaming The Ford Motor Company.

Wilma Lily: As he was going down the street, his car just shut off.

Larry Yellen: Her husband's 1989 Ford Mustang had stalled in a dangerous neighborhood where the robbers confronted him. Today her lawyers filed a lawsuit claiming that the engine stalled due to a defective ignition switch. The same problem that prompted a California judge on Wednesday to order the recall of 1.7 million Fords in that state.

Kenneth Moll: We just want Ford to recognize, as the judge has out in California, that there is a significant problem that can occur. They knew about the problem. They didn't fix the problem, and now it has to be recalled.

Larry Yellen: Moll's lawsuit is the first nationwide class-action lawsuit concerning these ignition switches. He's asking a Cook County judge to order the largest recall ever, 23 million cars, 300 models of Ford's covering the years 1983 to 1985. Ford is appealing the California case and insists the ignition switches are not a problem.

Richard Warmer: There is no evidence in the record establishing the causation of accidents and injuries by the failure of this component. It's simply not fair.

Larry Yellen: The class-action lawyers say if you do the math, 23 million vehicles, about $170 to repair each one of them, a nationwide recall would cost The Ford Motor Company $4 billion. At the Daley Center, Larry Yellen FOX News Chicago.