Consultant Fired Over a Year Ago, Cooper Says

(Akron/Tire Review) Recent television news reports concerning Cooper Tire & Rubber Co. using an ex-con to conduct accident site investigations were more than they appeared to be, according to Cooper. According to a Cooper spokesman, the tyre maker did employ Frank Ruggier to investigate vehicle accidents on its behalf, but fired him “over a year ago” when the company discovered Ruggier had previously been convicted of insurance fraud and grand theft.

Ruggier, a Cooper spokesman said, was an employee with an investigation and consulting company that it and other tyre companies used. The spokesman said that it is quite common for tyre companies to employ outside investigators to collect information and evidence for liability lawsuits. When Ruggier left the consulting company to start his own investigation firm, Cooper continued to use him up until the company discovered his past convictions.

The Cooper spokesman said the current television news stories started in Phoenix, where a lawsuit from a 2001 vehicle accident is being heard. The story circulated through TV stations in Cincinnati, Cleveland and Detroit in the past week.

In the case, a Cooper-produced tyre is alleged to have separated and caused the accident, which killed a passenger. The Cooper spokesman said that the plaintiff’s attorneys gave the story to a local Phoenix station in an effort to “paint the company in a false and misleading light.”

“At the very least, trying this case in public before a jury is even seated is unethical,” the spokesman said.