Ford Asks For Summary Judgment in Tailgate Class Action Lawsuit

On Friday, Ford Motor Company asked a federal judge to allow the automaker to file a summary judgment motion on the individual claims for the remaining 17 plaintiffs in the consolidated Ford cracked tailgate class action lawsuit.

At this time, the Court’s Standing Order only permits one summary judgment, but Ford claims in a letter to the judge dated November 21 that they have not had the opportunity to depose all of the named plaintiffs because of “unique discovery and class certification schedule which prevents Ford from filing a single, comprehensive summary judgment motion as to the individual claims of all plaintiffs.”

Basically, Ford is requesting the summary judgment as a response to the plaintiffs’ objection to being deposed and limiting the proposed class certification to a “subset of plaintiffs” in California, New Jersey, and Florida.

Since the deadline for Ford to depose the plaintiffs’ expert(s) supporting their motion for class certification is Jan. 23, 2015, and the hearing on the plaintiffs’ motion for class certification will take place on June 18, 2015, Ford claims their request for summary judgment motion will not address potential classwide legal issues and will instead streamline issues for class certification if granted.

Ford Cracked Tailgate Problem

The Ford tailgate class action involves more than 30 named plaintiffs from 25 states of current and former owners or lessees of Ford Explorer, Lincoln Aviator and Mercury Mountaineer vehicles seeking to represent a nationwide class that could be in the millions.

The Plaintiffs allege that due to faulty manufacturing and/or design, the Ford vehicles at issue are defective in that the tailgate of the vehicles is prone to cracking, thereby posing a safety hazard. None of the named plaintiffs alleges the panel on his or her vehicle exhibited any cracking during the vehicle’s warranty period.

The Ford tailgate class action lawsuit further alleges that Ford refused to fix cracks in these tailgates under a warranty even though it knew a defect had caused the cracks and that since the cracked tailgate defect existed from the time the SUVs were manufactured it should be covered under Ford’s original warranty.

The proposed class is reserved for people who purchased, in the United States, a model 2002 through 2005 Ford Explorer or Mercury Mountaineer, or model 2003 through 2005 Lincoln Aviator.

Ford Motor Company Cracked Tailgate Lawsuits

The proposed class action lawsuit filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, In Re Ford Tailgate Litigation, Case No. 11-CV-2953-RS, says Ford’s actions are unlawful business acts and practices under the California Business and Professions Code and violate the state Consumers Legal Remedies Act. It seeks injunctive and declaratory relief, restitution, actual and punitive damages, attorneys’ fees and costs, and repair under the express warranties.

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