Bridgestone/Firestone (BFS) Inc.'s settlement last Friday with the Texas family suing it for $1 billion totaled $7.5 million, company officials have confirmed.
The amount "is very close to what we originally offered them before the trial," says a BFS spokesperson.
The settlement was reached following several days of jury deliberation over a lawsuit filed by the family of Marisa Rodriguez, who was paralyzed in a March 2000 Ford Explorer roll-over accident. The plaintiffs had blamed Firestone tires shod on the vehicle for causing the wreck.
Ford Motor Co. also settled with the Rodriguez family to the tune of $6.5 million in July.
