Products Liability Law Reporter

Tavaris Smith was a passenger in a 1998 Ford Explorer driven by Sharrell Wade when Wade swerved to avoid hitting an animal that appeared to be crossing the SUV’s path. He lost control of the vehicle, which rolled over twice before landing right-side-up on the roadway’s shoulder. Smith was knocked unconscious and suffered a severed spine at C6-7, resulting in quadriplegia. Now 24, he requires 24-hour care. He had been a maintenance worker earning up to $20,000 annually.

Smith sued Ford Motor Co., alleging that the design of the Explorer, which was the subject of two safety recalls, made the vehicle unstable and prone to rolling over. He claimed that the SUV should have been redesigned to be lower and wider. The plaintiff also asserted that instead of redesigning its defective vehicle, the defendant changed its testing modality to computer-based simulation called ADAMS but then failed to keep the relevant ADAMS data from its testing. Suit did not claim medical expenses.

The jury awarded more than $151.79 million, including $100 million in punitive damages.

Citation: Smith v. Ford Motor Co., No. 27-CV-2016-900273.00 (Ala. Cir. Ct. Dallas Cnty. Feb. 15, 2019).

Plaintiff counsel: AAJ member LaBarron N. Boone, Greg Allen, AAJ member Kendall C. Dunson, AAJ member Daniel E. Philyaw, and AAJ member Stephanie S. Monplaisir, all of Montgomery, Ala.; and William Gamble, Selma, Ala.

Plaintiff experts: David Bilek, engineering and ADAMS testing, Littleton, Colo.; and Micky Gilbert, accident reconstruction, Arvada, Colo.