Olivia Cavallaro Auto 08.22.2022 05:Aug AM EDT

Ford is Appealing Recent $1.7 Billion Verdict to Truck Crash Victims' Families in Georgia

FRANCE-US-AUTOMOBILE-POLITICS — Photo : GEORGES GOBET/AFP via Getty Images

Ford plans to appeal the $1.7 billion verdict handed down by the Georgia court in the wrongful death lawsuit.

Late last week, a jury in Gwinnett County, Georgia returned a $1.7 billion verdict in an eight-year old wrongful death lawsuit over a truck crash that took the lives of two individuals. Melvin and Voncile Hill died in their 2002 Ford F-250 after a rollover wreck in April 2014.

Their children, Kim and Adam Hill then filed a wrongful death case against Ford over what they believed were dangerously defective roofs on the Ford pickup. The plaintiffs were represented by lawyer James Butler Jr., AP News reported.

Ford Announces Decision to Appeal $1.7 Billion Verdict

In a statement to the media outlet, Ford said that while they extended their sympathies to the Hill family, they firmly "do not believe the verdict is supported by the evidence" and that they "plan to appeal." However, lawyers working for the plaintiffs believe they already presented enough evidence saying otherwise.

According to Reuters, lawyers for the Hill family presented almost 80 other rollover wrecks that involved truck roofs being destroyed and injuring or killing its drivers or passengers. Butler said that the Hill family insisted on a verdict because they were hoping the award of punitive damages would serve as a warning for the millions of Americans who also drive similar Ford trucks.

Moreover, lawyers for the plaintiffs argued that Ford and its engineers "acted willfully and wantonly, with a conscious indifference for the safety" of their customers when determining "roof strength" of their trucks. Defense lawyer Paul Manke denied all allegations that Ford was irresponsible in designing and manufacturing the said roofs.

Jury Awards the Hill Family for Compensatory Damages

Just before the verdict was delivered, the Georgia jury also awarded the Hill family $24 million in compensatory damages. As per the Hill's attorneys, the jury believed that Ford was 70% at fault for the deaths of the Hill couple, The Guardian reported.

But the jury also allotted 30% of the blame to Pep Boys, an automotive service which installed tires on the F-250 that were the wrong size for the vehicle, resulting in the truck crash. Attorneys for the Hill family presented data that showed Ford sold 5.2 million "Super Duty" trucks with dangerously weak roofs that would crush passengers in the event of a rollover.

The flaw in the roof design was found in Ford's "Super Duty" models that were released from 1999 to 2016. Even Butler remarked that the evidence they presented was stunning, calling Ford's roofs "weak" and "useless in a wreck," to the point that the drivers might as well have driven a convertible.

The Hills' wrongful death lawsuit is another one for Ford's hurdles this year, as it issued 49 recalls in 2022 alone, data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. This sheer number of recalls is more than any other automobile manufacturer.