The state Superior Court has upheld a $5.9 million verdict that a Lackawanna County jury awarded to a man who claimed he suffered paralysis because his air bag failed to deploy during a crash.

In making its ruling, the court rejected defendant Ford Motor Co.'s arguments that the state Supreme Court's 2014 decision in Tincher v. Omega Flex warranted a new trial in the case.

A unanimous three-judge panel of the court ruled Thursday in Cancelleri v. Ford Motor that the automaker should not be granted a new trial, and said the ruling in Tincher, which dealt with how products liability cases can be tried and litigated, did not have any bearing on the case, which involved allegations about the vehicle's crashworthiness.