Milberg Weiss Announces Class Action Suit Against Bridgestone-Firestone, Inc.
11 August 2000
Milberg Weiss Announces Class Action Suit Against Bridgestone-Firestone, Inc.
NEW YORK--Aug. 11, 2000--The following is an announcement by the law firm of Milberg Weiss Bershad Hynes & Lerach LLP:The law firm of Milberg Weiss Bershad Hynes & Lerach LLP announces that a class action lawsuit was filed on August 10, 2000, on behalf of all persons who incurred any costs or expenses in connection with their replacement of Firestone's (LI:BRD-news) (GR:BGT-news) (JP:5018-news) ATX, ATX II or Wilderness AT tires (the "Defective Tires"). A copy of the complaint filed in this action is available from the Court, or can be viewed on Milberg Weiss' website at http://www.milberg.com/firestone/
The action, numbered 00-2514-II, is pending in the Chancery Court for Davidson County, Tennessee at Nashville.
The complaint charges Firestone with breach of implied warranty of merchantability and related claims in connection with defective products manufactured and sold by Firestone and issued as standard equipment in new vehicles, including the Ford Explorer, the nation's top-selling sport utility vehicle.
The complaint alleges that the defect -- as a consequence of which the treads of the automobile tires peel off their casing -- is prevalent in Firestone's ATX, ATX II and Wilderness AT brand tires. This tread separation, which the complaint alleges has long been denied by Firestone, makes the Defective Tires prone to bursting at high speeds, thereby causing serious and fatal accidents. Only after several large retailers, such as Sears Roebuck and Co., Montgomery Ward and Discount Tires, among others, refused to sell the Defective Tires, and following the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's ("NHTSA") receipt of approximately 270 complaints about the Defective Tires and reports of approximately 46 deaths and 80 injuries, did Firestone finally announce, on August 9, 2000, that it would recall the Defective Tires.
According to Firestone's August 9, 2000, recall announcement, however, the recall is partitioned into three phases and will take at least one year to complete: The first phase involves California, Arizona, Florida and Texas; the second phase extends the recall to Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, Nevada, Oklahoma and Tennessee; and, the final phase involves tires in remaining states. The action seeks to recompense those individuals who purchased tires to replace the Defective Tires. Such purchases were made either prior to the recall -- during which point Firestone was denying that any defects existed with respect to these tires and offered no replacement -- or following the recall -- during which point consumers purchased replacement tires to ensure their safety and to avoid the substantial risks and delays that consumers were subjected to as a result of Firestone's failure to provide replacement tires in a timely manner.
If you purchased replacement tires for your vehicle or suffered injury or property damage as a result of the Defective Tires, you may retain Milberg Weiss Bershad Hynes & Lerach LLP, or other counsel of your choice, to serve as your counsel in this action.
Milberg Weiss Bershad Hynes & Lerach LLP (http://www.milberg.com) is a 145-lawyer firm with offices in New York City, San Diego, San Francisco, Los Angeles and Boca Raton and is active in major litigations pending in federal and state courts throughout the country. Milberg Weiss has taken a leading role in many important actions on behalf of consumers, investors and others nationwide and has been responsible for more than $20 billion in aggregate recoveries. Please contact the Milberg Weiss website for more information about the firm. If you wish to discuss this action with us, or have any questions concerning this notice or your rights and interests with regard to this case, please contact the following attorneys: Keith M. Fleischman or Salvatore J. Graziano, One Pennsylvania Plaza, 49th Floor, New York, NY 10119-0165; Phone number: 800/320-5081; e-mail:FirestoneCase@milbergNY.com; website: http://www.milberg.com.
