Ford Motor Co. was advised by a jury to pay greater than $1.7 billion over a 2014 rollover accident that killed a Georgia couple, in response to Bloomberg Information and The Wall Road Journal.

Jurors delivered their verdict on punitive damages Friday following a 14-day trial in state court docket in Lawrenceville, Ga., the plaintiffs’ lawyer, Gerald Davidson, advised Bloomberg.

A day earlier, the jury awarded the household of Melvin and Voncile Hill $24 million in compensatory damages and allotted 70 p.c of the blame to Ford, Davidson mentioned.

“Whereas our sympathies exit to the Hill household, we don’t consider the decision is supported by the proof, and we plan to attraction,” a Ford spokesman advised the Journal on Saturday.

Davidson confirmed particulars of the case reported earlier by Courtroom View Community:

The Hills have been driving from their farm in Reynolds, Ga., in a 2002 Ford F-250 pickup when a tire ruptured and the truck rolled over, crushing them.

The Hill household claimed that Ford knew the roofs of the F-250 pickups was too flimsy to guard riders within the occasion of a roll-over however didn’t warn client and caught to the faulty roof design till 2016.

“We’re very, very comfortable for the Hill household and really comfortable for the development of vehicle security,” Davidson mentioned.

In Georgia, 75 p.c of proceeds from punitive harm verdicts go to the state. The remainder is cut up between the plaintiffs and the attorneys.

Giant punitive harm awards are sometimes scaled again by judges or appeals courts when they’re discovered to be disproportionate to compensatory damages.

Ford has been beset by high quality points together with a rising variety of U.S. remembers and guarantee prices — significantly in 2022.

“We proceed to be hampered by remembers and buyer satisfaction actions,” CEO Jim Farley advised analysts final month throughout a name to debate Ford’s in any other case robust second quarter. “This impacts our value, however extra importantly, it falls brief on our most basic dedication to our clients.”