The Akron Beacon Journal from Akron, Ohio • Page 14

A14 Akron Beacon Journal Sunday, September 24, 2000 www.Ohio.com Sealed data could harm both companies i vJJ i ft DANNY VANV.TTO 7 What did Firestone, Ford know, and when? Continued from Page Al ed to speak out. "If you don't put a face on a story," says Kim Van Etten, "there is no story. "People look at it, they read some of it and they go: 'Oh, But maybe now they'll look at it and say: 'My God, how many other people has this happened As they speak, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is investigating 101 deaths and more than 400 injuries linked to three models of 15-inch Firestone tires, which came as standard equipment on Ford's top-selling sport utility vehicle, the Explorer, and other Ford light trucks. Mother calls it murder News reports often describe the deaths as "fatalities," a word Kim Van Etten hates "because what they've done is not a fatality." "It's murder, in my eyes," she said. "I don't know what it would be in another mother's opinion, but my son's down there in the graveyard because somebody didn't want to own up to a problem they were having." The cemetery where her son is buried, Riverside Memorial, is a 10-minute walk from the Van Ettens' working-class neighborhood.

The inscription below his name reads: "You Brightened Everyone's Life With Your 'I i nil to realize their son's life was not wasted. Case draws interest His legal case has been taken up, like a signal torch, by the Florida attorney general's office and four major news organizations in a series of legal motions filed within the past three weeks in U.S. District Court in Brunswick, Ga. At stake are the contents of hundreds of pages of documents sealed by the court after Firestone and Ford attorneys quietly settled a $21 million wrongful death lawsuit filed by Van Etten's parents. The settlement came one week before the case was set to go to trial in August 1999.

The judge in the case, Antho- pi A life cut short At left, Danny Van Etten's grave site is less than a mile from his Jupiter, home. Above, his family and friends put together picture collages in his memory. Below is of his official West Virginia University football picture. Rowe Brogdon of Statesboro, by a Ford corporate attorney. "They never said, face-to-face, that they were sorry," Kim Van Etten said.

Worn down by process She was determined to take Ford and Firestone to trial "I wanted them going down," she said but the yearlong process of pretrial maneuverings became unbearable. Brogdon, the family attorney, said more than 30 depositions were taken during discovery. Personal questions asked in depositions by Ford and Firestone attorneys seemed like attempts to determine how well the Van Ettens would hold up in court, the couple said. "I just couldn't do anymore," Kim Van Etten said. "We had already gone through so much," Mickey Van Etten said.

"And then our attorney told us, if we still wanted to pursue it, it could take six more years before it got to court." And so the Van Ettens agreed to an undisclosed sum of money in their settlement agreement, the details of which also were sealed by the federai court judge. Beyond the money the Van Ettens received which they are prohibited from talking about they hope Firestone and Ford executives will pay an even greater price for their son's death. Kim Van Etten said she hopes the ordeal ends with criminal charges being filed against both companies. -1 "It makes you want to throw something at the TV. When I hear him saying he's only concerned about safety, it reminds me of a Mafia guy giving you the kiss of death." MICKEY VAN ETTEN about TV ads featuring Fond Chief Executive Officer Jacques Nasser.

i lit fin 4 1 r' something at the TV," he said. "When I hear him saying he's only concerned about safety, it reminds me of a Mafia guy giving you the kiss of death." Everyday reminders Mickey Van Etten is not as vocal as his wife in dealing with the tragedy, but he said losing his son "ripped his heart out, and it stays ripped out." "I'll be driving on the job," Mickey Van Etten said, "and even if I see a cross or a dead animal on the side of the road, I'll have to pull over. That's when it hits me the hardest, when I'm by myself." Since the recall was announced last month, his wife says that she frequently breaks down when she sees Ford and Firestone officials explaining their positions on the nightly news. "Any little thing to do with it, and Mickey will find me in the kitchen crying," Kim Van Etten said. Although the Van Ettens say both companies are equally to blame, they appear to have at least some respect for Bridge-stoneFirestone Chairman Mas-atoshi Ono, who was in tears as he testified before Congress in the first round of hearings early this month.

"At least the guy from Firestone apologized to the American people," Kim Van Etten said. She said the only apology that the family received from Ford, from the time the wrongful death suit was filed in April 1998 until last year's settlement, was relayed to their attorney, i information is key to your success in today's competitive world. The Beacon Journal brings it to pur doorstep. Expanded financial section every Saturday Up-to-the-minute information about stock market performance Expert analysis about industry trends and economic developments News from businesses in the local community Local, regional, national and international economic developments -A "M-A I ri Virginia. He decided to sit out his freshman year as a red-shirt player, which gave him five years of college eligibility, because he wanted to first get accustomed to life away from home, his mother said.

"He was not only my son, he was my best friend," Kim Van Etten said. "He did everything -for me and with me." In high school, he also was the team's long snapper on extra points, field goals and punts. The first thing West Virginia coach Don Nehlen said when he visited Danny Van Etten after he signed with the Mountaineers, his father said, was: "There's our long snapper." "Danny never lobbed the ball. He rocketed the ball back there, his father said. Had NFL potential His high school coach, Paul Krasula, who also coached under Nehlen at West Virginia and is now an assistant principal at South Fork, said Danny Van Etten had the potential to play in the National Football League.

"With his size and athletic ability, there's always a shot at the NFL," Krasula said. "When he ramp ta nc though, he had long blond hair ana lovea to sum. But it wasn long before he became an outstanding football player and got better and better each year." Kim Van Etten said her son reveled in his high school days, so much so that he painted his room in the school colors, red and black. She said the door to his room was painted red, the baseboards were black and his three-drawer dresser was red in the middle and black on the two sides. "And he did a nice job, too," Mickey Van Etten said.

Kim Van Etten said she has just now mustered enough strength to begin reorganizing her son's room for guests. But the colors of the door and the dresser will remain red and black. "I don't care how long we live here," Kim Van Etten said, "it's going to stay that way." In so many ways, Kim and Mickey Van Etten are coming Smile." Danny Van Etten that's the name on his grave stone and three of his college friends were returning to school after spring break when everything changed. They were in a 1993 Explorer, heading north into Georgia on Interstate 95, a few miles past the Florida border, when the tread on the left-rear tire, a Firestone Radial ATX, separated from the core, according to the highway patrolman who investigated the crash. The Explorer flipped, hitting the driver's side first.

Danny Van Etten, who was taking his turn at the wheel in what had been planned as a continuous drive from his home back to the West Virginia campus, died instantly. Gone was a rock-solid young man who stood 6 feet 4 inches and looked like Pro Football Hall of Fame defensive lineman Howie Long of the Los Angeles Raiders, only with a wider neck and broader shoulders. Seemed indestructible "You'd look at Danny, and you'd say he could never be hurt," Kim Van Etten said. "He was like a mountain, but The mother's voice trailed off, overtaken by her memories of a son's love of football, baseball and his big dog Marlee, whom he named after the Florida Marlins baseball team. Danny Van Etten threw so hard as a pitcher in his early years at South Fork High School in Jupiter, his father said, major league scouts came out to put the radar gun on him.

He began playing baseball when he was 5 and was so good, his mother said, "his coaches had to take his birth certificate everywhere they went because the other teams thought he was a ringer." He was so good at anything he tried his mother said he even loved to cook and make his own mayonnaise that his only sister, Veronica, a 23-year-old waitress in Jupiter, had a severe inferiority complex after his death. "She's doing much better now," Kim Van Etten said, "but for the longest time she would say she felt it should have been her who died because she was not as good as Danny." Danny Van Etten, who was heavily recruited to play either the offensive or defensive line, was on full scholarship at West Three sue I At 1 1, 1 (iARY W. CiRI-kN Akron Beacon Journal photos General Les Garringer, was at least 75 wrongful death andor Personal injury lawsuits settled Ford and BridgestoneFire-stone, all with confidentiality agreements, before last month's massive tire recall. "It just didn't pass the smell test when the companies obviously knew that these tires were failing for a long period of time," Garringer said. Jason H.

Vines, a Ford vice president, said the congressional subcommittee investigating Ford and Firestone is working closely with both companies to win release of a significant portion of the sealed records, except for those that would reveal private matters between the companies and their attorneys. Protect trade secrets Firestone spokesman Dan Adomitis said Friday the company made a proposal in court last week to unseal large portions of the documents. "We are asking only to keep under seal the documents that protect our valuable trade secrets," Adomitis said. As for Kim Van Etten's assertion that her son was murdered, Vines said he would not comment "except to say that we've been sickened by what's happened to our customers who've had these bad tires, the vast majority of which are on our vehicle. "We have our families riding on these tires, and it rips at our heart every time we have to hear about people who are hurt or killed," he said.

Since Firestone's Aug. 9 recall of 6.5 million tires in the United States, the Van Ettens have watched Firestone and Ford executives march before Congress to explain what happened. And they have seethed, they said, whenever they have seen Ford Chief Executive Officer Jacques Nasser assuring the public, in national TV ads, that safety is his foremost concern. Mickey Van Etten, who has worked 31 years for Florida Power and Light Co. and started climbing utility poles when he was 18, said the sight of Nasser in his finely tailored suits makes his blood boil.

"It makes you want to throw "The tread and belts of the (right-rear) tire suddenly, and without warning, separated, causing the tire to rapidly deflate, resulting in the van going out of control and leaving the highway," the lawsuit states. The lawsuit seeks unspecified damages. We're marching to a different drummer Parade Magazine Only in Sunday's Beacon Journal If vxrrth looking into httpyAvww.0wo.cornbj i ny A. Alaimo, ordered the records sealed as part of the settlement agreement between the two companies and the Van Ettens. Seeking access to those records, the Chicago Tribune and Los Angeles Times filed a motion in the Georgia court Aug.

29, followed several days later by a similar motion from the Washington Post and CBS Broadcasting, and last Monday by Florida Attorney General Robert A. Butterworth. The news organizations argue that it is in the public's interest to have the sealed evidence published. Butterworth's office wants the documents as part of its civil racketeering investigation of Firestone and Ford. The state's investigation alleges that the companies conspired to hide defects in the tires and the design features of the Explorer.

The basis for that allegation, according to Florida Assistant Deputy Attorney plaints have been made nationwide involving tires made by BridgestoneFirestone, which recalled 6.5 million tires last month. The problem has been blamed for 101 fatalities and more than 400 injuries. Frates said the problem is not unique to Firestone, but that he has seen "very few Goodyear tires that have tread separation problems." The tire that blew out in the case filed Wednesday was made by Goodyear's Kelly-Springfield Tire Co. plant in Sao Paiilo, Brazil, according to the lawsuit. The accident occurred as Maeaeafe Anapu, 45, Benjamin Solovi, 62, and Asiasiga Fauga, 6A, traveled west on Interstate 80 at about 75 mph, the lawsuit says.

The men died at the scene. I Goodyear for tire blowout Utah widows say their husbands died when van rolled over on highway. Tire maker not alarmed Utah-Nevada state line, when a minivan rolled after a rear tire blew. Goodyear spokesman Chuck Sinclair said Friday that he had not seen the lawsuit. He said the Akron-based company, which makes more than 200 million tires a year, tracks the performance of its tires through a computer database.

"Based on our data, we see nothing that would alarm us to the point that we would be concerned about the safety of our tires," Sinclair said. Last week, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said that 2,226 similar com Associated Press SALT LAKE CITY: Three Salt Lake City widows have sued Goodyear Tire and Rubber claiming the accident that killed their husbands was caused by a blown tire. "It's the same exact kind of problem" as BridgestoneFire-stone Inc. tires, said attorney William Frates, of Vero Beach, representing Maria Anapu, Tia Solovi and Nua Fauga. "It's a tread separation caused by bad adhesion." The lawsuit was filed Wednesday in 3rd District Court.

The men died in an accident on July 16, 1999, near the Il IN.