The hearing of a High Court action by a Cork woman, who claims she suffered severe disabilities because of vibrations and shocks from the accelerator of her Ford Fiesta car, was aborted yesterday after the court was told there had been a similar previous claim which had not been disclosed by Henry Ford and Sons Ltd in documents given to the Cork woman's lawyers.
Following yesterday's aborted trial, the Ford company was ordered to pay the Cork woman's legal costs to date which are estimated at €750,000.
The case had been at hearing for five days and it is expected there will have to be a new trial.
Ms Marian Varian, of Commons Road, Cork brought her action against Henry Ford and Sons and CAB Motor Co of Monahan Road, Cork, where she bought the car in 1997.
Ms Varian claims she suffers from a condition called Dystonia which causes muscle contraction and rigidity which results in painful spasms, causing her body to fall forward into unusual postures. She claims the condition was caused by her Ford Fiesta.
In evidence yesterday, senior Ford executives denied there was any attempt to conceal a claim brought by the other person concerning alleged similar defects in a particular model of the Ford Fiesta car bought in Mullingar, Co Westmeath.
Mr Justice Kearns accepted there had been no "cover up" by the company.
He said he was impressed with the frankness of the evidence on behalf of Ford, and accepted the failure to make discovery in relation to the previous case was due to "human error."
Ms Varian told the court she felt a vibration type of shock from the accelerator pedal and got a "zinging" noise through her rings when she rested her hand on the gear lever. In the first week she experienced bad pins and needles like "bolts of lighting".
Her right foot began to twist and became inverted. She now walks on the outside of her foot and cannot put it flat on the floor.
The court was told that she now has a "most extraordinary gait" and her walk is "distressing to see."
In aborting the trial, Mr Justice Kearns said that, after five days in evidence, an extraordinary development took place late on Tuesday when it was brought to the court's attention that the disclosure of documents (in preparation for Ms Varian's case) by Henry Ford and Sons was seriously deficient.
This arose because, although in an affidavit on behalf of the company it was stated on oath that the person (who made the affidavit) was unaware of other litigation and allegations of vibration in the accelerator pedal of another vehicle, it now transpired as result of a communication to Ms Varian's counsel that there was precisely such a case (in Mullingar) which was dealt with by a gentleman who had a direct involvement in Ms Varian's case.
It appeared that this other case did not simply consist of a letter of complaint about the accelerator pedal, but actually consisted of protracted correspondence involving 19 letters written to the company official in question, and that company official's 22 replies to different persons concerned with the dispute which went to arbitration.
That arbitration hearing was decided in June 1997 in favour of the other person who had also purchased a Fiesta around the same time as Ms Varian and, based on the evidence available, there was a suggestion there was a defect, albeit a minor defect, in the car which consisted of vibration in the accelerator pedal.
A very extensive discovery of documents had been made by the company which disclosed other complaints made in England and further afield, but the particular case in Ireland was never disclosed and this required an urgent explanation to the court yesterday.
Mr Justice Kearns said that evidence had been given by Mr Denis McSweeney and by Mr William O'Donnell, of Henry Ford and Sons in relation to what had happened, and although paper and computer records were kept and checked at the relevant time, the other (Mullingar) claim was not picked up.
This had left everybody in an unfortunate situation because essentially Ms Varian had been examined on the basis that there was no vibration in the accelerator pedal.