Martin Brookes drives a 1999 Ford Explorer equipped with Firestone Wilderness AT tires. After hearing the spreading reports associated with the Wilderness tires, caused by peeling tread, Brooks approached two San Francisco dealers to request a refund or replacement tires. Both dealers declined, explaining his wilderness tires were not the subject of Firestone’s recall because they were not made at Firestone’s Decatur, IL, plant.
Brookes then hired the San Francisco class action firm Girard & Green, and filed a federal suit against both Firestone and Ford in Nashville, TN, where Firestone is headquartered.
Brookes, along with such consumer safety groups as Ralph Nader’s Public Citizen and Safetyforum.com, are urging Ford and Firestone to broaden the tire recall, saying it is dangerously limited because the same defects reported with the 15-inch tires affect all versions of the three tire models. “We know that Ford has replaced a wider range of tires in Venezuela and the Middle East, including16-inch sizes – why not here?” said attorney Robert Green who represents Brookes
Firestone and Ford are now facing more than 100 law suits based on the tire defect, a number of which seek class action status. On August 15, Girard & Green filed a motion before a federal judicial panel in Washington, DC, requesting that all of the federal class action suits be transferred and organized in a single court.