Plaintiffs Fight to Keep Jeep Liberty Class Action Lawsuit Alive

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In a series of oppositions filed May 27, plaintiff lawyers shot down a May 1 motion by Chrysler Group LLC to dismiss a proposed class action lawsuit over allegedly defective window parts used to repair 2002 to 2007 model year Jeep Liberty vehicles, arguing that the automaker’s arguments fall short.

In 2010, plaintiff Michael Wolfington sued Chrysler, alleging that he needed to have his vehicle repaired some 11 times and that “Chrysler never disclosed the defect in the replacement window regulators” to him. In some cases, these fixes could cost more than $400.

Wolfington voluntarily dismissed the Jeep Liberty class action lawsuit in February 2011, and later joined a new class action lawsuit filed by lead plaintiff Steven Doyle in April 2013.

In their opposition to Chrysler’s motion to dismiss the new Jeep Liberty class action lawsuit, the plaintiffs’ lawyers note that the car maker “attempts to evade liability by claiming that it had no duty to disclose the defective nature of its replacement window regulators. Incredibly, Chrysler argues that it had no duty to disclose because Mr. Wolfington ‘knew’ that the replacement window regulators were defective based on his own experience[.]”

Wolfington’s lawyers point to statements he made in the new Jeep Liberty class action lawsuit that had he known of the issue he would have used window parts made by another company. Further, they cast doubt on the statement that due of the frequent necessity of taking his SUV to a mechanic, he should have realized that the vehicles had problems. Yet when he did, he alleges no one told him of the problems.

The same issues come up in a response filed by the lawyers for plaintiff Robin Allen, who also joined Doyle’s complaint. She claims she eventually traded in her 2006 Jeep Liberty after five separate repairs and her father actually screwing some of the windows shut completely. She alleges that her trade-in netted her less money than it otherwise would have because the defective design decreased its value.

Pointing to Maryland precedent governing her claims, Allen’s lawyers argue that it was in fact an economic injury. Further, they note that while she was told that the broken regulators that could leave windows unable to roll up were a known problem for the Jeep Liberty, she had no reason to believe that the replacements would have the same problem.

A hearing on Chrysler’s motion is scheduled for June 23.

The plaintiffs are represented by class action lawyers from Foley Bezek Behle & Curtis LLP, Goldenberg Schneider LPA and Arias Ozzello and Gignac LLP.

The Jeep Liberty Window Defect Class Action Lawsuit is Steve Doyle, et al. v. Chrysler Group LLC, Case No. 13-cv-00620, in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California.