$8.2 Million Verdict After Retread Tire Blowout Kills Two Women on US-93

On May 21, 1999, a Polson Ready Mix cement truck was traveling along US Highway 93 near Ronan, Montana with a retreaded tire mounted on its left front steering axle. The tire blew out. The driver lost control, drifted into oncoming traffic, and plowed head-on into a Ford Escort. Two women in the car, Marisa Wolverton, 45, and Heidi Lee Martinez, 31, were killed.

The tire at the center of the case had been retreaded twice. Les Schwab Tire Centers sold it and, through its member dealership Mission Mountain Tire, had it mounted on the truck's front steer position. The lawsuit alleged that Les Schwab marketed these retreads as 'all-wheel position tires' without adequately warning customers that placing them on the front axle of a heavy truck posed severe risks at highway speeds.

Court records showed Les Schwab's own internal guidance acknowledged that retreads should not be used on front steering axles unless a large truck was traveling under 50 miles per hour for fewer than 50 miles at a stretch. The company sold the tires anyway without passing that warning to buyers. Monte Beck represented the families of both women at trial.

On January 28, 2005, a Missoula County jury returned a verdict of $8.2 million. Roughly $3 million covered compensatory damages, split among Les Schwab of Oregon, Les Schwab of Montana, Polson Ready Mix, and Mission Mountain Tire. The remaining $5.2 million was punitive: $5 million against Les Schwab Warehouse Center of Oregon and $200,000 against Les Schwab of Montana. Together, the Les Schwab entities were on the hook for nearly $7 million of the total award.

Judge Douglas Harkin reviewed the punitive award post-trial, as Montana law requires for damages of that scale, and upheld it in full. He found that Les Schwab's conduct showed 'an indifference to the high probability of injury to the traveling public.' The $8.2 million verdict stood.