Ford Shattering Sunroof Class Action Gets Dismissed

A federal judge has dismissed a class action lawsuit filed against Ford by a customer who claimed that the panoramic glass sunroof in her Ford Escape spontaneously shattered while driving on the freeway.

Plaintiff Jessica Beaty says that the sunroof shattering is due to a manufacturing defect which is common in a wide range of Ford cars.

Beaty states that the tempered glass in panoramic sunroofs is too thin, which leads to the glass shattering.

The plaintiff alleges that Ford knew about the defect in the panoramic sun roof, but concealed it from the consumers.

After the class action lawsuit was filed, the judge trimmed some of the claims in January 2018. Later, in October 2019, the plaintiffs maintained in a court filing that Ford should face the claims brought in their class action.

Ford then sought summary judgment, claiming that there is no “defect” because the sunroof tempered glass breaks the way that the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard states that it must break: into small, round pieces instead of shards that could cause serious injuries.

Ford further argued that they could not have known about the defect because the plaintiff bought her vehicle at the beginning of the production of the car and thus did not have a duty to disclose the defect to the plaintiff.

Additionally, the automotive company claimed that the defect could not have been material to a car purchaser as it has a “extremely low” occurrence rate, only .05 percent, and is thus not material as a matter of law.

In the dismissal motion, the judge ruled that there hasn’t been a recall of any Ford panoramic sunroofs and Beaty did not established a fact pattern that would prove that Ford knew that their sunroofs were defective when she purchased the vehicle.

“Even assuming that the Escape’s [panoramic sunroof] shattering is a material defect, and even if Ford would be required to disclose it to potential purchasers—issues discussed below—Beaty has not met her summary judgment burden of providing evidence from which a reasonable trier of fact could find that Ford knew about alleged [sunroof] defect when Beaty purchased her 2013 Escape in September 2012,” the judge’s opinion states.

The judge also notes that it would defy common sense to state that a vehicle manufacturer must disclose every single defect of any component to every potential purchaser of their vehicles, even if the failure is minor and even if it has happened a handful of times.

In addition, the judge opines Beaty does not cite to any cases holding that the type of defect she is claiming is material. 

According to the judge, Beatty suggests that any failure rate of any part of a vehicle needs to be disclosed by the manufacturer, but this is not the law.

“A truly dangerous failure (like an exploding gas tank) is material even if it is rare, and in a different case a duty to disclose a material defect may arise even if the defect occurs only infrequently,” the judge concludes.

Do you own a Ford whose sunroof shattered? Leave a message in the comments section below.

The plaintiffs are represented by Beth E. Terrell, Amanda M. Steiner and Benjamin M. Drachler of Terrell Marshall Law Group PLLC, Gregory F. Coleman, Mark E. Silvey, Adam A. Edwards and Lisa A. White of Greg Coleman Law PC and Paul J. Hanly Jr., Mitchell M. Breit and Eric S. Johnson of Simmons Hanly Conroy LLC.

The Ford Sunroof Class Action Lawsuit is Beaty, et al. v. Ford Motor Co., Case No. 3:17-cv-05201, in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington.

Read More Lawsuit & Settlement News:

Tampa Bay Lightning Text Message Class Action Settlement

Another Zostavax Shingles Lawsuit Joins Growing MDL

Bed Bath & Beyond Class Action Says Memberships Auto Renew

Agnesian HealthCare Ends Lawsuit Over Illegal Kickbacks with $10 Million Whistleblower Settlement