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February 5, 2004
Ford has agreed to pay $23.7 million to settle a long-simmering lawsuit filed by a family involved in a 1993 rollover accident.
The case involved the crash of a 1978 Bronco near Ceres, California. Three members of the Romo family were killed and three others were injured when the vehicle overturned several times, causing the roof to cave in.
The accident happened when driver Juan Romo swerved after he was cut off by another vehicle.
A California appeals court in November ordered Ford to pay $23.7 million to the Romo family after the U.S. Supreme Court threw out a $290 million judgment in the case.
A Stanislaus County jury originally awarded the family $4.6 million in compensatory damages and $290 million in punitive damages -- a judgment said to be the largest personal injury award ever upheld by an appeals court.
However, the U.S. Supreme Court eventually threw out the damages out and sent the case back to the state court after ruling in a different case that punitive damages must be reasonable and proportionate to the harm suffered.
Ford said it believes the award is "excessive and improper" but decided to pay in order to settle the 10-year-old case.
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