Judge Keeps Ford F-150 Door Defect Class Action Lawsuit Alive

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UPDATE 2: October 2020, the Ford door latch class action settlement is now open. Click here to file a claim.

UPDATE: On March 5, 2020, Ford agreed to pay $5.3 million to settle customers’ claims that the door latches in F-150 trucks do not latch in frozen conditions. Now, the settlement awaits preliminary approval in New York federal court.

A judge has denied a motion by Ford Motor Co. to dismiss a class action lawsuit alleging certain Ford F-150 pickup trucks had door latches that failed to latch properly in freezing temperatures.

The judge determined that plaintiff Brandon Kommer put forth plausible arguments that Ford knew about the defect at the time Kommer purchased his truck.

According to the Ford class action lawsuit, Kommer purchased a 2015 F-150 XLT SuperCrew Cab truck from a New York Ford dealership in October 2015.

He says he decided to purchase the truck after seeing Ford’s television and internet advertisements and that, because the advertisements highlighted the F-150’s durability and toughness, he believed the door technology would work.

However, when the temperature fell below freezing, Kommer says that the doors malfunctioned. The doors would not latch, the locks would not open, and the door handles failed to move, the Ford class action lawsuit alleges.

Kommer claims that Ford knew that some 2015 model F-150 door latches were defective but failed to disclose the defect. He points to a technical service bulletin issued by Ford in April 2015 that acknowledged that the door latches on some 2015 F-150 models may not work in freezing temperatures.

A subsequent technical service bulletin was issued regarding the same door latch defect affecting 2016 and 2017 F-150 pickup trucks, Kommer alleges.

Kommer says he attempted to have his truck repaired at the Ford dealership on several occasions but the attempts were unsuccessful. In December 2016, the Ford dealership informed him about the technical service bulletin and ordered parts to repair the vehicle. The dealership made the repairs but Kommer says the side door failed again even after the repairs.

He filed the Ford F-150 class action lawsuit in March 2017, seeking to represent himself and a proposed Class of New York owners and lessees of model year 2015 through 2017 model year F-150 trucks.

Ford asked the court to dismiss the F-150 door latch defect class action lawsuit, arguing that technical service bulletins are “generally the result of consumer complaints” and that they do not demonstrate exclusive knowledge about a defect.

Kommer opposed Ford’s motion to dismiss the F-150 class action lawsuit and urged the judge to keep the case alive.

On Monday, U.S. District Judge Lawrence E. Kahn denied Ford’s motion to dismiss the class action lawsuit, noting that the existence of the 2015 technical service bulletin suggests that Ford knew about the door latch defect at the time Kommer purchased his F-150 truck.

“Since Kommer alleges that the 2015 [technical service bulletin] was only disclosed to Ford dealerships and was not distributed to anyone outside the company, it is plausible that Ford had exclusive information regarding the door latches and locks defect when Kommer purchased his truck,” Judge Kahn wrote in his order.

The plaintiff is represented by Jeffrey I. Carton, Robert J. Berg and Myles K. Barley of Denlea & Carton LLP.

The Ford F-150 Door Latch Defect Class Action Lawsuit is Brandon Kommer v. Ford Motor Co., Case No. 1:17-cv-00296, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of New York.