Ford Owes Treble Damages for Transmission Woes After First Trial

A jury awarded about $64,000 to a dissatisfied Ford Focus owner who’s the first to go to trial among more than 900 consumers alleging transmission defects in consolidated litigation against Ford Motor Co. in federal court in California.

The verdict for Mark Pedante Nov. 14 represented treble damages under the Song Beverly Act, California’s lemon law, according to Roger Kirnos of the Knight Law Group, which represents Pedante.

But Judge Andre Birotte Jr. of the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California struck fraud-based claims that could have taken the verdict much higher about 10 days before trial, ...