$725,000:Defective Door/Amputated Finger

Four years after a Palm Beach County toddler lost her finger due to a defective rear door hinge in a ford Explorer, a Palm Beach County judge ordered ford Motor Company to pay $725,000 in damages to her in a case tried by Ervin A. Gonzalez.

In 1995, a two-year-old girl was standing in the open door well of the front passenger seat of the new Ford Explorer her family had leased from a Delray Beach dealership. When the back door was opened, her little finger was caught and severed by the exposed lower hinge assembly of the right rear door.

At trial, Mr. Gonzalez proved that Ford Motor Company was negligent in failing to exercise reasonable care in the manufacture, design, and testing of the Ford Explorer and its rear door hinge.

“The verdict should go a long way in promoting safety,” said Mr. Gonzalez