American Airlines Settles Auto Crash Suit

NEWPORT BEACH —  Two executives at American Restaurant Group Inc. who won a $14.4-million court award against American Airlines agreed to settle the 4-year-old case, which was on appeal.

As part of the settlement, both parties agreed to keep terms confidential, an American Airlines spokesman said.

American Restaurant Chairman Anwar Soliman and President Ralph Roberts were awarded $19.6 million by a Texas jury in November 1996 for injuries they suffered in a car accident nearly three years earlier en route to Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport. A judge later reduced the amount to $14.4 million.

American Airlines was appealing the award, contending that the accident was caused by driver error. It agreed to drop the appeal as part of the settlement.

Attorneys for Soliman and Roberts argued that the airline was at fault for the accident. The executives were passengers in a car that rear-ended another motorist who had stopped to read giant electronic message boards that American Airlines had installed at the airport to provide passengers with flight information.

Soliman suffered a brain injury and nerve damage and still wears a patch over his left eye to control double vision. Roberts suffered a broken pelvis and deep facial cuts. American Airlines has since turned off the signs.

Mark Werbner, the attorney representing the plaintiffs, did not return phone calls Wednesday. Soliman and Roberts were traveling and could not be reached.