Ford faces $1.7 billion compensation bill over F-250 death, lawyers say

• Ford may have to pay $1.7 billion in damages linked to the F-250’s roof design, according to Bloomberg.
• Ford had previously ordered $24 million to be paid to the family of a married couple killed in a crash.
• Ford told the Wall Street Journal that the ruling was not supported by evidence and that he would appeal.

Ford may have to pay $1.7 billion in damages related to the design of its F-250 pickup truck that killed two people.

James Butler, attorney representing the plaintiffs, He told the Wall Street Journal, A Georgia jury ruled on Friday that Ford must pay punitive damages for the sale of 5.2 million Super Duty trucks it described as dangerously weak and liable to crush passengers if the truck overturned.

Butler said the case was brought against Ford by the Melvin and Voncel Hill family, who were driving a 2002 Ford F-250 Super Duty truck from their farm when the right front tire blew and the truck flipped, killing the two.

“The Hill family is glad this part of the case is finally over,” Butler told the newspaper. “They intend to persevere and make Ford pay.”

Gerald Davidson, another attorney representing the Hill family Tell Bloomberg The jury had previously awarded $24 million in damages to the hillside area and assigned 70% of the blame to Ford.

“We are very, very happy for the Hill family and very excited about the progress in automotive safety,” he said.

The punitive damages judgment of $1.7 billion is exceptionally high. Georgia Law Indicates That 75% of proceeds from punitive damages must be paid to the state of Georgia, the remainder divided between plaintiffs and attorneys.

A Ford spokesman told the newspaper that the automaker plans to appeal the ruling.

“While we sympathize with the Hill family, we do not believe the verdict is supported by evidence, and we plan to appeal,” he said.

Recently, Ford has been hampered by quality issues across its range, including a safety flaw on this model Mustang Mach-E SUV That can affect more than 49,000 cars.

According to the data of the Ministry of Transport compiled by the magazineThe automaker has more than three times the number of cars affected by the recalls than Tesla, but it produces far more cars.

Ford did not immediately respond to Insider’s request for comment.