Judge makes Ford Motor face third trial over dealer pricing contracts

A state judge in Cleveland is reportedly eyeing for Ford Motor Co to face trial for the third time despite getting favorable rulings earlier. Judge Peter Corrigan issued an order for Ford to face the claims by its dealers that the automaker had breached service and sales agreements due to its failure in publishing prices for medium to heavy trucks. The dealers are demanding $2 billion in awards, which was denied by a jury later.

The truck dealers filed a suit against Ford in 2002 and claimed that the company had broken an agreement to sell the trucks at published prices, Bloomberg said. The dealers claimed they were forced to honor the published prices to its customers, which obviously lower sales from 1987 to 1998.

Ford managed to escaped payout in two previous lawsuits regarding the matter. In 2011, Corrigan issued a ruling that Ford pay around $2 billion, which includes $1.2 billion in interest, to about 3,000 dealers. A state appeals court later threw Corrigan's ruling and said that the state judge improperly excluded evidence that could have aided the second-biggest US automaker in its case. In the second trial, a jury in Ohio had rejected the claims by the truck sellers in September of last year.

In an interview yesterday, lawyer for the plaintiffs James Lowe told Bloomberg that a Cleveland state judge arrived at an conclusion that the jurors were confused at that time when they rejected the dealers' claims against Ford. Lowe added that Corrigan issued an order for Ford to face another trial regarding the claims.

"We are gratified to once again have the chance to show Ford took advantage of the dealers by manipulating agreements to divert their profits to the company," Lowe added.

Ford spokesman Jay Cooney said the company is disappointed with the decision of Corrigan to grant a new trial in favor of the truck sellers and revealed plans that Ford will be filing for an appeal.

"We are confident the appellate courts will reinstate the jury's verdict, including that Ford did not break the sales and service agreement," Cooney said over the phone.

Bloomberg said Corrigan has yet to set a date for the new trial.

Tags

Ford Motor Co, Ohio State Judge Peter Corrigan, Ford service and sales agreement breach

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