Greene, Broillet, Taylor, Wheeler & Panish Announces First Courtroom Trial Involving Tire Tread Separation Since Massive Firestone-Ford Recall

    LOS ANGELES--Jan. 23, 2001--Statement from Greene, Broillet, Taylor, Wheeler & Panish:

    Opening Statements Will Be Given in Department 89 of the Los Angeles County Superior Court on Jan.24, 9 a.m., Judge Judith Cherlin presiding.

    Whistleblowers to Expose Tire Maker Placing Profits Above Safety.

    Trial Will Disclose Perilous Practices of Continental General Tires.

    Evidence revealing manufacture of contaminated tires, record falsifications, and the withholding of critical information from Ford Motor Co. will be offered in the first courtroom action involving tread separation since the massive Firestone-Ford recall.
    Opening statements commence Wednesday, Jan. 24, in Lampe v. Continental General Inc. (case No. BC 173567) in Los Angeles Superior Court.
    "It's important to public safety that such reckless acts by a tire manufacturer finally be exposed," explained plaintiff's attorney Brian Panish, of Greene, Broillet, Taylor, Wheeler & Panish of Santa Monica, Calif. The most recent tread separation suits have settled with confidential agreements.
    Plaintiffs will present internal documents, reports and expert testimony illustrating how Continental General's unrelenting pursuit of profits and production led to the tire failure which caused Cynthia Lampe's June 26, 1996, tragic accident. The crash rendered her quadriplegic.
    A jury will hear that the defendant knowingly released defective and contaminated tires into the marketplace. Lampe's General AmeriTech steel-belted radial 15-inch tires were made at Continental General's Mt. Vernon, Ill., plant. Lampe's tire was installed as original equipment on Ford Taurus vehicles. At the time the tread separated, causing the accident, 75 percent of the tread remained on the tire.
    Testimony from plant employees will describe routine failures to follow quality control procedures at the Mt. Vernon plant. As a result, contaminants were placed into the rubber during the manufacturing process. These contaminants weakened the tire belts' adhesion.
    Corporate headquarters' quest for higher production and higher profits led to production well in excess of the plant's capacity production, resulting in defective tires being put out on America's highways.
    Additionally, evidence will establish that General Tire delayed in implementing low-cost design changes that they knew would save lives. General's executives purposely dismissed effective tread design remedies, some costing only 73 cents per tire. Managers were pressured to falsify inspection records and operate the plant at 103 percent above capability.
    Lampe, 30, was driving within the speed limit, with her mother, Sylvia Cortez, and her physician boyfriend, returning to Las Vegas along Interstate 15, when suddenly and without warning, the tread on the left-rear tire on her Ford Taurus separated, causing her to lose control of the vehicle. The car went up an embankment and overturned, severing Cynthia's spinal cord. Her mother also suffered injuries in the crash. She is the daughter of Hall of Fame boxing referee Joe Cortez.