Lopsided Award Against Ford, $8M Is Upheld

Lawyer implored jurors to base their award on 'human decency'

EDISON, NJ - August 7, 2009: An appeals court last week upheld a product liability verdict against Ford Motor Co. for $8 million in compensatory damages and $42,050 in punitive damages, despite the plaintiff's contention that the award was lopsided because Ford's lawyer was allowed to tell jurors about the carmaker's financial straits and layoffs. A Middlesex County jury found that a defective throttle on a 1997 Ford Explorer caused the rollover accident that left Rebekah Zakrocki with a useless right arm. The Jury awarded the plaintiff, represented by Eichen Levinson & Crutchlow $8 million in compensatory damages and $42,050 for punitive damages in 2007.

Zakrocki, then 22, claimed her throttle jammed while she was driving north on the Garden State Parkway on Nov. 10, 2000, and when she pressed down hard on the gas pedal, the car lurched forward, causing her to lose control and hit other cars before rolling over. The crash nearly severed Zakrocki's right hand and tore out the nerves connecting her spinal cord to her arm. She had 21 operations, including multiple muscle, vein, nerve and skin grafts.

The jury blamed the accident on a defective throttle, rather than a tendency to roll over and found $10,626,480 in damages, including $8 million for pain and suffering, but deemed Zakrocki 28 percent at fault because she was not wearing a seat belt. Half the liability was assessed against Ford and the other 22 percent against Freehold Ford, the dealer that sold Zakrocki the Explorer.