Closed Case
ADR Process Created in 1997

In 1993, Sprenger + Lang filed a race discrimination class action lawsuit against Ford Motor Company and Ford Motor Credit Company on behalf of several named plaintiffs and other black salaried employees. After several overlapping class actions were filed in other districts, the Multi-District Litigation Panel transferred the case to Ford's hometown, the Eastern District of Michigan, and Sprenger + Lang became lead counsel for the plaintiffs. Over the next few years, the parties conducted scores of depositions all over the country and the number of named plaintiffs steadily grew.

Undeterred by the Court's denial of class certification in 1996, Sprenger + Lang negotiated with Ford an alternative dispute resolution process to resolve the race discrimination claims of the firm's 140 clients. The process began in December 1997, and by 1999, most of the claims had been successfully negotiated; the last few claims are still being resolved. With the exception of those last few claimants, every one of the clients has received a payment from Ford.