On September 20, 2009 Forrest Walker was driving his 1998 Ford Explorer. He was stopped at the intersection of Arapahoe Avenue and Cherryvale Road in Boulder. Walker’s Explorer was rear-ended. His driver’s seat malfunctioned, and he was thrown backwards sustaining head and neck injuries.
Claiming that the Explorer’s seat was a defectively designed, Walker sued Ford. The first trial ended on March 25, 2013 in a verdict for Mr. Walker and against Ford. The 2013 jury determined that Ford was liable for damages in the amount of $2,915,971.36. Ford successfully appealed that verdict to the Colorado Court of Appeals, and then to the Colorado Supreme Court. The high court ruled that the trial court had improperly instructed the jury on the correct test to apply to a finding of product liability. The Court threw out the verdict and the judgment against Ford and ordered a second trial to be conducted.
On March 1, 2019 a Boulder County District Court jury returned a verdict in favor of Forrest Walker, against Ford Motor Company in the net amount of $2,929,871.20. With pre-judgment interest and costs the value of the judgment will rise to approximately $6.5 million. Mike Thomson of Purvis Gray Thomson chaired the trial and partner Evan Banker of Chalat Hatten & Banker second-chaired.