Plaintiffs' Attorney Joseph Lisoni Claims News Media Was Inaccurate in Coverage of Firestone Case Ruling

PASADENA, Calif.--March 19, 2004--In the wake of a ruling Wednesday by a California Superior Court Judge denying a motion, without prejudice, to certify a national class action lawsuit against Bridgestone/Firestone, Inc. for alleged defects in its Steeltex tire series, plaintiffs' attorney Joseph L. Lisoni said today that numerous articles in major newspapers across the country were inaccurate in their reporting of the judge's decision at a hearing on certification. He said that many of the headlines were in error by indicating the case had been dismissed, when, in fact, the judge gave Lisoni a minimum of 90 days to file a new motion for national class action certification.

At a hearing held Wednesday in the Riverside Branch of the California Superior Court on a motion by the plaintiffs to certify the lawsuit as a national class action, Judge Christopher J. Sheldon denied the motion for what he termed "lack of sufficient evidence" to warrant certifying it as a national class action. In making this ruling "without prejudice," Lisoni said that the judge realized his confusion on the issue of whether evidence of alleged defects in Steeltex tires was appropriate in a certification hearing and, therefore, provided the plaintiffs' attorneys with the opportunity to file a new motion for national class certification.

The court stated that it will allow Lisoni to file a new motion to certify a national class action accompanied by appropriate evidence to meet the judge's criteria for certification. Lisoni said that the firm fully intends to do so immediately upon receipt of the judge's ruling in writing, and after Lisoni travels to LaVergne, Tenn., to inspect 2,000 tires the judge ordered to be held by Bridgestone/Firestone for the purposes of allowing the plaintiffs' engineers to inspect for defects. Lisoni will also travel to Washington, D.C., to receive an award as "California Businessman of the Year," which he said will be presented to him by President George W. Bush.

Lisoni was particularly upset Thursday, however, when he saw the media coverage of the hearing, including articles in newspapers across the country. He noted that many of the headlines erroneously stated that the national Firestone Steeltex class action had been dismissed and that this would lead the average citizen to believe that the lawsuit was kicked out of court and, therefore, the five million members of the class would not receive their monetary damages from the case.

Among the misleading headlines Lisoni pointed to were the Nashville Tennessean article titled "Judge Throws Out Class-Action Claim Against Firestone" and the article published by the Miami Herald titled "California Judge Won't Make Steeltex Tire a National Class Action." Other newspapers, he pointed out, carried equally misleading headlines such as: "Class Action Status in Tire Case Disallowed" and "Class-Action Status for Tire Suit Denied; Lawyers Pledge Appeal." Commenting on the coverage, he remarked: "An average person who scanned these headlines alone -- let alone read the text of the article -- would reasonably come to the conclusion that our case had no merit whatsoever and the judge threw it out of court. That couldn't be further from the truth. First, the judge's ruling was incorrect, and we will address that through the legal system."

Lisoni reported that he called the State of California Judicial Council today to file a complaint against Judge Sheldon for the "incompetent manner" in which he handled this national class action. He noted that the judge should have referred it to the Superior Court's Complex Litigation Department since it is potentially the largest national class action in U.S. history.

Through the 20 months of litigation to date, Lisoni pointed out that he has worked closely with the media to educate them to the inherent dangers of the Steeltex tire. This was part of a public education program to alert American consumers, who are currently driving on the more than 30 million Steeltex R4S, R4SII and A/T tires on the nation's roads and highways, of alleged defects in the tire series.

In addition to vehicles of private citizens allegedly being in danger driving on Steeltex tires, Lisoni said that ambulance companies in 33 states have reported problems with Steeltex tires and have voluntarily paid for their replacements with other brands, and they indicated there were no further incidents of tire failures. He added that Bridgestone/Firestone had recently recalled 490,000 tires manufactured at a plant in Joliette, Quebec, 297,000 of which were marketed in the United States.

Lisoni commented: "To the putative five million members of this national class action, it is imperative that not only the judicial process be fair and accurate but also the reporting of the litigation process by the media. It is not only important that the thousands of people already part of this class action receive accurate information about the progress of the litigation but that Steeltex tire owners who are not yet part of it also receive vital information about the fact that there is a lawsuit against Bridgestone/Firestone that they can be part of as well. We rely on the media to provide accurate information at all times."

Lisoni said that the Web site www.firestonesteeltexclassaction.com was set up when the lawsuit was filed to provide information to the public and is updated regularly. "It's amazing how many people across the country who have had problems with Steeltex tires have reached out to us through the Web site," he emphasized, adding: "We understand the media has to offer fair and balanced reporting of news stories but it is incumbent upon them to ensure that it is accurate."