Nov. 8, 2001 – The Virgin Islands government will receive $500,000 as part of a settlement of a lawsuit brought by attorneys general nationwide against the Bridgestone/Firestone tire company.
The settlement was announced Wednesday by the attorneys general of the 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands.
Half of the total settlement amount of $51.5 million will be divided equally among the jurisdictions, according to an announcement from V.I. Attorney General Iver Stridiron. The other half will be divided into customer restitution and payments for the cost of investigations and a public service campaign about customers' rights.
In the settlement agreement, the Bridgestone/Firestone company does not acknowledge that it engaged in any wrongdoing in regard to claims that several brands of its tires were faulty, or that the company then gave misinformation about the alleged failures. The settlement also provides an arbitration procedure for claims filed against the company before the date the settlement was signed.
"I'm pleased that Bridgestone/Firestone has stepped forward to resolve this matter," Stridiron said in the announcement. "Today's settlement will provide greater protections for the consumers purchasing and using Bridgestone/Firestone tires in the future."
The complaints against the company allege that a line of tires had structural faults that caused the treads to separate. Those tires were used on Ford Explorers and Mercury Mountaineers during the model years 1995 to 1998, according to the announcement.
A recall of the tires was implemented in August 2000, but there were claims of false information about the replacement process.
The settlement states that the company must present accurate information about safety features of tires, must be able to back those claims with scientific evidence, and must not change the terms of warranties and guarantees.
Stridiron was off-island Thursday and could not be reached to discuss what the V.I. government intends to do with its portion of the settlement.
