Ethics Newsline®

MODESTO, California
A California judge last week threw out a $290 million punitive-damage verdict against Ford Motor Co. because of jury misconduct, and ordered a new trial on charges that the automaker deliberately hid a design flaw that led to the deaths of three people.

Stanislaus County Superior Court judge Roger Beauchesne ruled that two jurors injected highly emotional and secondhand information — a violent dream, and hearsay evidence of Ford misconduct taken from a TV program — into the deliberations.

The case stemmed from a 1993 accident in which three family members were killed when their 1978 Ford Bronco overturned on the highway. Plaintiffs accused Ford of ignoring research evidence showing that the Bronco’s fiberglass roof was susceptible to collapse under such circumstances.

Ford argued that its design met federal safety standards at the time, and that the accident was the fault of the drivers involved, the Associated Press reported.

A jury ruled against Ford last July, penalizing the automaker $500,000 in compensatory damages, and $290 million in punitive damages.

Ford, which now faces a new trial on the punitive damage counts, is also considering an appeal of the compensatory damages, according to the AP report.