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itigation continued to rear its head in the tire industry in 2004 as tire manufacturers were sued by consumers and customers alike, settled cases and challenged several court actions. Nashville, Tenn.-based Bridgestone/Firestone saw two ongoing class-action lawsuits against it end favorably-at least for the time being. In March, Judge Donald Floyd of the Beaumont, Texas, state district court approved an approximately $149 million settlement between the company and 30 class-actions from plaintiffs who owned recalled Firestone ATX, ATX II and Wilderness AT tires. An appeal by the plaintiffs' attorneys on the grounds that the settlement benefits only