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Allegations that Ford Motor Company cars were sold with an electronic throttle control system that made them prone to sudden unintended acceleration were not sufficient to hold the company liable for claims of fraud, fraudulent concealment, and unjust enrichment in a class action lawsuit against the company, a West Virginia federal judge ruled Monday. Judge Robert C. Chambers did, however, refuse to dismiss the warranty claims against Ford.
The Ford class action lawsuit, filed in March 2013, involves various models of Ford vehicles manufactured between 2002 and 2010, and represents customers who purchased or leased those vehicles in West Virginia, Florida, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Missouri, New York, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Virginia, and Wisconsin. The vehicles include a few dozen models which are equipped with electronic throttle (“ETC”) control systems. These vehicles are alleged to contain a design defect that allows the ETC to take control of the accelerator from the driver, according to the Ford unintended acceleration class action lawsuit.
In models of these vehicles manufactured after 2010, Ford installed a brake override system to account for the ETC problems. Last year, a $1.1 billion class action settlement was reached with Toyota over similar issues.
Plaintiffs in the Ford class action lawsuit, including lead plaintiff Lance R. Belville, argue that the ETC “rendered the vehicles unreasonably dangerous and defective at the time of purchase,” and said they had suffered economic damages because they paid more to purchase or lease the vehicles than their actual worth.
Ford argued to dismiss the class action lawsuit on a number of points, including that the unintended acceleration “‘may’ be caused by electro-magnetic interference without identifying any specific defect.” Judge Chambers refused to dismiss on this basis, citing in his March 31 ruling the U.S. Supreme Court rulings in Bell Atlantic Corp. v. Twombly and in Ashcroft v. Iqbal. He wrote, “Plaintiffs’ assertion is that the ETC system’s ability to process malfunctions is the defect, irrespective of what caused the initial malfunctions.”
Chambers found Ford’s arguments about economic consideration and fraud more persuasive. In the decision, Chambers wrote “Ford points out that only two of the twenty Plaintiffs named in the Complaint allege they actually experienced a sudden unintended acceleration, and neither of those Plaintiffs alleges they suffered any personal injuries or property damage as a result of those events.” He decided that “those Plaintiffs who have never experienced a sudden unintended acceleration have failed to demonstrate a plausible claim that they paid more for their vehicles than their actual worth.” He also determined that the fraud claim was impossible to uphold, largely because “although Plaintiffs identify … various reports, advertisements, and statements made by Ford, no Plaintiff states he or she actually saw, heard, or relied upon any of those specific reports, advertisements, or statements in deciding to buy a Ford vehicle.”
Plaintiffs in the Ford class action lawsuit are asking for certification of the nationwide and statewide classes, compensatory damages for the difference between what they originally paid for their cars and the actual value of their defective vehicles, and injunctive relief.
The plaintiffs are represented by Adam J. Levitt and John E. Tangren of Grant & Eisenhofer PA, with Spilman Thomas & Battle PLLC, The DiCello Law Firm, Bucci Bailey & Javins LC, Bartimus Frickleton Robertson & Gorny PC, Murray and Murray Co. LPA, Searcy Denney Scarola Barnhart & Shipley PA, Siprut PC, Bremer Whyte Brown & O’Meara LLP, The Miller Law Firm PC and Davis Bethune & Jones LLC.
The Ford Unintended Acceleration Class Action Lawsuit is Belville, et al. v. Ford Motor Co., Case No. 3:13-cv-06529, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia.
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25 thoughts onFord Unintended Acceleration Class Action Lawsuit Stripped
I live in Nebraska and purchased a 2004 Ford Escape. This vehicle had acceleration problems which made it dangerous to operate. I did investigate because I had heard that there were problems with Ford Escapes’ acceleration. In fact, there were deaths associated with this problem. From what I recall, the class action lawsuit was for the V-6 (or something similar) and my engine was a 4-cylinder. I called the Ford dealership and they were (not surprisingly) very rude and completely uninterested in resolving the matter.
MY 2010 MUSTANG JUST DID THIS, TOO. MY WIFE WAS DRIVING ON THE HIGHWAY WHEN IT SUDDENLY TOOK OFF. SHE WAS ABLE TO PUT THE CAR IN NEUTRAL AND PULL OFF TO THE SIDE. HALF AN HOUR LATER, IT RESTARTED AND WAS FINE. THANK GOODNESS NO ONE WAS INJURED. WHAT CAN WE DO ABOUT THIS?
Mine has done this twice now. Once in September of 2015 and I had it towed straight to the dealership. They determined the throttle body needed replaced. Then again today. I wasn’t so fortunate today. I had an accident due to this defect.
Hi. My father purchased a 2006 Lincoln Town Car last year 2014. Unfortunately he passed shortly after and didn’t get a chance to enjoy the car. Since then while driving my mom to a few places I have experienced the sudden acceleration the others have experienced. The first time my mom asked what I was doing she had thought I had my foot on both the break and the gas. I knew this wasn’t the case. About a month later the same thing happened while pulling out into a busy highway luckily I was able to stop the vehicle. I told my mom I’m not driving this again thinking maybe it was me. Approximately 3 weeks later my mom called me to tell me the same thing happened to her. Now the car is just sitting in the garage as we obviously are not going to drive it with this dangerous issue. I hope you can get back to us soon to advise us what to do at this point. We took the car back to the dealer explain to them what happened they looked at the car and said they saw nothing wrong. However we obviously know something is wrong with the car and it is dangerous to drive. Thanks in advance for your help
This too has happened to me usually when I’m doing a quick acceleration getting on or accelerating to pass on the Freeway. I hv to let up on the gas pedal and then apply it again, within seconds, to hope for continued acceleration and not cutting off someone as my car didn’t move quickly out of the way of others.
It’s now February 2015.
Am I too late as I’m just finding out about this now??
Besides my children, I know hv my mother & grandmother in the car as well!!
Please advise! Thank u so much!
I have a 2005 Ford Five Hundred and have had similar problems. Please contact me with a claim form.
My mom owns a 2009 Lincoln Towncar. Just last Friday this happened to her in the car line at my daughters’ school. She was parked as the first car in car line, as she had gotten there early. She has been through this Carline many times over the years, starting with her first grandchild who is now 18. This was nothing new to her, and she has never been in an accident before. When car line started, she turned on her car put it into gear and started slowly around the corner, turning right. The car suddenly accelerated to a high rate of speed and she was unable to stop it with the break. She steered it into a tree on purpose. There were over 100 kids out there waiting to get picked up. There are NO WORDS as to how tragic this could have been. My daughters witnessed their grandma’s crash. My mom had to be moved from our local ER to the level one trauma center at ORMC in Orlando due to effusion around her heart. Luckily she had no broken bones, she will get an echocardiogram in a month to check on the effusion.
On Dec. 12,2013 my Ford 2010 Escape took off and flew over many curbs. My friend, Ray, and I literally closed our eyes as we decided that we would be hit. When my Escape stopped, we both opened our eyes and could not believe that we were OK, physically, but mentally we were spent. The next day I turned this monster Ford into the dealer. They were so happy to see me and gave me a free lease on a 2014 Ford Fusion. When this lease expires I will purchase a Toyota.
Where to I add myself to the sudden acceleration lawsuit for my 2005 Mercury Montego. The car does it all the time, and scares the daylights out of me.
I have a ’05 Ford Five Hundred and have experienced Throttle issues twice in 13 months. I want to join the class action suit. please get in touch with me.
i HAVE A fORD 150 AND A eXPLORER sPORT tRAC. tHIS HAS BEEN HAPPENING ALMOST DAILY. MY WIFE WILL NOT DRIVE HER SPORTTRAC. i CALLED fORD HOME OFFICE AND i HAVE A CASE NUMBER. i HAVE TAKEN MY TRUCKS TO THREE fORD DEALERS AND THEY DON’T SEEM TO GIVE A DAMN. oNE DEALER HAS MY EXPLOER SPORT TRAC FOR ALMOST 2 WEEKS, THEY DID HAVE NOT FIXEDF IT.
In re: Ford Fusion and C-Max Fuel Economy Litigation, MDL No. 2450, in the U.S. Judicial Panel for Multidistrict Litigation
In this class action suit, I believe I should have been included. I reside in California and purchased my 2013 CMAX back in July 2013, at a time when the salesman clearly must have been aware of the fraudulent claims made by FMC regarding mileage claims of 47. This salesman actually stated the estimate was “low”, and that a customer of his reported a recent Estimated GPA of over 50 mpg! To make matters worse, he insisted I qualified for a recent grad rebate of $500, which was unclear at time of sale. The dealer actually sued me in small claims for the rebate amount, which I never qualified for, and won.
So not only was I mislead about the mileage, but the rebate as well. I am extremely angry. If there is anything you can do, please connect with me at the email above. I have received the Ford “GOODWILL REIMBURSEMENT”, but have never cashed it. The way I calculated it, my ‘GOODWILL REIMBURSEMENT’ should have been at least $2,400.00.
WOULD LOVE TO HEAR FROM YOU.
You need to contact a lawyer or obtain one from this site because what you are saying isn’t clear. And this is why I do not like none of the West Coast. Sue happy folk and rip off, bite **s vicious, dog sneak attack while you are trying to walk and they will approach you, scam, or attack you while doing such…
This has been my experience while residing there. I do not miss it.
:( Not very humanistic…. and why not live somewhere where you can make a living without having to grind your skeleton, hump your leg, or whatever other health impediments?