Weidman v. Ford Motor Co.

PAUL WEIDMAN, JOYCE BONASER THOMAS LEANDRO;JEAN LOUISE THUOTTE SR.; ANDRES SANCHEZ;SETH GINGSBERGL JASON BUSH; STEVE MITCHELL;RAUL VALENTIN, ERICA GOMEZ, PERRY BURTON,TERESA PERRY, and ROY NAASZ, MARTY COBB; PATRICK HUFF;ANTHONY TAURIANINEN; CARSON ADAMS; THOMAS GROCERICHARD EPPERSON; AMANDA GOLLOTT; and ROY WILLIAM WILBURN,individually and on behalf o others similarly situated, Plaintiffs, v. FORD MOTOR COMPANY, Defendant.

Case No.: 18-cv-12719

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT EASTERN DISTRICT OF MICHIGAN SOUTHERN DIVISION

February 11, 2020

Honorable Gershwin A. Drain

OPINION AND ORDER GRANTING IN PART AND DENYING IN PART DEFENDANT'S MOTION TO DISMISS FIRST AMENDED CONSOLIDATED CLASS ACTION COMPLAINT [#53]

I. INTRODUCTION AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

On August 30, 2018, Plaintiffs brought the instant action against Defendant Ford Motor Company alleging that each Plaintiff had purchased a Ford F-150 with a defective front brake master cylinder that places it at risk of suddenly and unexpectedly losing braking ability. On July 10, 2019, the Court entered an Opinion and Order granting in part and denying in part the Defendant's Motion to Dismiss Consolidated Class Action Complaint. ECF No. 48. The Court's July 10, 2019 Opinion and Order dismissed all of Plaintiffs' express and implied warranty of merchantability claims, unjust enrichment claims, and claim under the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act, 15 U.S.C. §§ 2301 et seq. Id. at PageID.1575.

On July 24, 2019, the Court received a proposed stipulated order regarding Plaintiffs' filing of an Amended Complaint and Defendant's Response. In their proposed stipulation, the Plaintiffs indicated that they sought to amend their allegations in order to add named plaintiffs from additional states and to re-plead certain claims, including the factual allegations underlying those claims. Rather than enter the parties' proposed stipulated order, the Court scheduled and held a status conference in this matter on July 31, 2019. Thereafter, the Court entered an Order allowing Plaintiffs to file an Amended Class Action Complaint by August 14, 2019. Plaintiffs filed their First Amended Class Action Complaint on August 14, 2019.

Now before the Court is the Defendant's Motion to Dismiss First Amended Consolidated Class Action Complaint (FACCAC), filed on September 18, 2019. Plaintiffs filed their Response on October 11, 2019, and Defendants filed their Reply on October 24, 2019. For the reasons that follow, the Court will grant inpart and deny in part Defendant's Motion to Dismiss Consolidated Class Action Complaint.

II. FACTUAL BACKGROUND

Plaintiffs' core allegation remains unchanged, specifically, that their 2014 through 2018 Ford F-150 trucks "contain[] a defective front brake master cylinder ("Master Cylinder") that place [them] at risk of suddenly and unexpectedly losing braking ability." ECF No. 52, PageID.1587. In addition to the six plaintiffs from five states (Alabama, California, Florida, Georgia and Texas), who brought the prior complaint, the First Amended Consolidated Class Action Complaint identifies nine new plaintiffs from those five states: Joyce Bonasera, Thomas Leandro and Jean Louise Thuotte (California), Jason Bush and Steve Mitchell (Florida), Marty Cobb and Patrick Huff (Georgia), Richard Epperson and Amanda Gollett (Texas). Plaintiffs have also added six plaintiffs from new states: Andres Sanchez (Colorado), Seth Ginsberg (Connecticut), Anthony Tauriainen (Michigan), Carson Adams (New York), Thomas Groce (South Carolina), and Roy William Wilburn (West Virigina).

Plaintiffs seek to certify a nationwide class of all purchasers and lessees of 2013-18 Ford F-150s in the United States, and separate state classes for vehicles purchased or leased in Alabama, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Michigan, New York, South Carolina, Texas and West Virginia.

III. LAW & ANALYSIS

A. Standard of Review

Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6) allows the court to make an assessment as to whether the plaintiff has stated a claim upon which relief may be granted. See Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(b)(6). "Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 8(a)(2) requires only 'a short and plain statement of the claim showing that the pleader is entitled to relief,' in order to 'give the defendant fair notice of what the ... claim is and the grounds upon which it rests.'" Bell Atlantic Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 555 (2007) (citing Conley v. Gibson, 355 U.S. 41, 47 (1957). Even though the complaint need not contain "detailed" factual allegations, its "factual allegations must be enough to raise a right to relief above the speculative level on the assumption that all of the allegations in the complaint are true." Ass'n of Cleveland Fire Fighters v. City of Cleveland, 502 F.3d 545, 548 (6th Cir. 2007) (quoting Bell Atlantic, 550 U.S. at 555).

The court must construe the complaint in favor of the plaintiff, accept the allegations of the complaint as true, and determine whether plaintiff's factual allegations present plausible claims. To survive a Rule 12(b)(6) motion to dismiss, plaintiff's pleading for relief must provide "more than labels and conclusions, and a formulaic recitation of the elements of a cause of action will not do." Id. (citations and quotations omitted). "[T]he tenet that a court must accept as true allof the allegations contained in a complaint is inapplicable to legal conclusions." Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 129 S. Ct. 1937, 1949 (2009). "Nor does a complaint suffice if it tenders 'naked assertion[s]' devoid of 'further factual enhancement.'" Id. "[A] complaint must contain sufficient factual matter, accepted as true, to 'state a claim to relief that is plausible on its face.'" Id. The plausibility standard requires "more than a sheer possibility that a defendant has acted unlawfully." Id. "[W]here the well-pleaded facts do not permit the court to infer more than the mere possibility of misconduct, the complaint has alleged-but it has not 'show[n]'- 'that the pleader is entitled to relief.'" Id. at 1950.

The district court generally reviews only the allegations set forth in the complaint in determining whether to grant a Rule 12(b)(6) motion to dismiss, however "matters of public record, orders, items appearing in the record of the case, and exhibits attached to the complaint, also may be taken into account. Amini v. Oberlin College, 259 F. 3d 493, 502 (6th Cir. 2001). Documents attached to a defendant's "motion to dismiss are considered part of the pleadings if they are referred to in the plaintiff's complaint and are central to her claim." Id.

B. Express Warranty Claims

1. Plaintiffs Weidman and Perry

Defendant first argues that Plaintiffs are precluded from repleading their express warranty claims because these claims were dismissed with prejudice in theCourt's July 10, 2019 Opinion and Order. Plaintiffs counter that the Court's July 10, 2019 Opinion and Order did not state the dismissal of these claims was with prejudice. Plaintiffs further contend that they were permitted to re-plead these claims because the Court entered an Order allowing Plaintiffs to file the FACCAC. Plaintiffs' argument is not well taken. Plaintiffs and Defendant agreed in a proposed stipulated order to allow the Plaintiffs to file an amended complaint in order to add named plaintiffs from additional states and to re-plead certain claims, including the factual allegations supporting those claims. Thus, the Court was willing to allow Plaintiffs additional time within which to file their amendment. The Court's Order allowing Plaintiff to file the FACCAC said nothing about re-pleading claims that have already been dismissed. Nor did the Court indicate that the dismissal of these claims was without prejudice. To the contrary, the Court's July 10, 2019 Opinion and Order was silent as to whether the dismissal was without or with prejudice because it is well settled that "[u]nless stated otherwise in a dismissal order, a dismissal under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6) is an adjudication on the merits." Layer-Rosario v. Allied Mortg. Capital Corp., No. 17-5468, 2018 U.S. App. LEXIS 554 (6th Cir. Jan. 9, 2018) (citing Fed. R. Civ. P. 41(b); Semtek Int'l Inc. v. Lockheed Martin Corp., 531 U.S. 497, 505-06 (2001)). As such, Plaintiffs are not permitted to re-plead their dismissed claims. Thus, Counts 3 and 25 of the FACCAC are dismissed.

In any event, even if Plaintiffs Weidman and Perry were allowed to re-plead their claims, the FACCAC does not cure the deficiencies that resulted in their dismissal. This Court dismissed Plaintiffs Weidman and Perry's express warranty claims because neither "alleged that they experienced any problems subsequent to the replacement of the master cylinder." ECF No. 48, PageID.1562. Yet, Weidman and Perry still do not allege any recurrence of the problem in the FACCAC. Rather, they add an allegation that their replacement parts are "substantially certain to fail." ECF No.52, PageID.1647. While this Court previously noted that the prior Complaint lacked such an allegation, it did so only in connection with distinguishing a case involving California law, which does not apply to Weidman's Alabama claim or Perry's Texas claim. See Benkle v. Ford Motor Co., No. 2017 WL 9486154 (C.D. Cal. Dec. 22, 2017) (citing Keegan v. Am. Honda Motor Co., 284 F.R.D. 504, 511-12 (C.D. Cal. 2012)) (finding plaintiffs had plausibly alleged an express warranty claim because the replacement parts were "substantially certain to fail again.").¹

Moreover, the FACCAC does not rectify the fact that Plaintiff Perry failed to provide the requisite pre-suit notice as required by Texas law. This Court previously held that Perry could not rely on a letter sent by Plaintiff Weidman because Perry did not take any steps to put Defendant on notice of the defect withher vehicle. U.S. Tire-Tech, Inc. v. Boeran, B.V., 110 S.W.3d 194, 201-02 (Tex. App. 2003)(holding "[t]he manufacturer must be made aware of a problem with...