March 17, 2005
A federal judge in Nashville has ruled that Ford Motor Co. discriminated against black customers by allowing dealers to charge them higher rates on vehicle loans.
The ruling in the class-action lawsuit was a loss for Primus Automotive Financial Services, which is a unit of Ford Motor Credit Corp.
U.S. District Court Judge Aleta Trauger presided over the who two-week trial. She ordered Primus and the plaintiffs to negotiate for 30 days to find a way to end the discriminatory practices.
"What I have decided is that the plaintiffs have proved their case and that they will win in my decision," Trauger said. The plaintiffs in the case were not seeking damages but Primus will have to pay attorney fees.
The Primus case was the first of several such class action cases to go to trial. Other finance companies and banks, faced with similar lawsuits, have settled out of court.
The lawsuit lists 11 named plaintiffs, but attorneys said thousands of black customers were discriminated against and are included in the class. Attorneys said they were unfairly charged hundreds of thousands of dollars more than they should have been on car loans.
Earlier, Ford dismissed the charges as without merit. The company claimed to look forward to going to trial as a means of defending its reputation.
