Beasley Allen lawyer W. Daniel “Dee” Miles, III, head of the firm’s Consumer Fraud section, was appointed Interim Co-Lead Class Counsel in the class action litigation filed against Ford Motor Company, together with E. Powell Miller of The Miller Law Firm, P.C., and Adam J. Levitt of DiCello Levitt & Casey LLC. The complaint is filed in the United States District Court of the Eastern District of Michigan with District Judge Gershwin A. Drain presiding.
The lawsuit involves an allegedly defective braking system in Ford’s F-150 for model years 2013-2018, which can result in brake failure. The lawsuit alleges that the vehicles’ brake master cylinders contain piston cup seals that roll within their grooves and become unseated. This allows brake fluid to escape from the master cylinder, resulting in loss of brake fluid, which leads to loss of hydraulic pressure on the brake system and eventually resulting in loss of brake function on the class vehicles.
“With the far-reaching, dangerous consequences of this defective product, we are honored to have been appointed interim co-lead counsel of this important class action lawsuit,” said Miles. “We look forward to working with our co-counsel and liaison counsel as we expose the issues that continue to put so many consumers at risk and seek to hold Ford accountable for failing to adequately address the situation it created.”
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) began investigating reports of brake fluid leaking from the master cylinder in 2013-2014 Ford F-150 models with the 3.5-liter engines in February 2016. Three months later, Ford admitted the existence of the master cylinder defect when it issued a safety recall. Yet, the recall only addressed a small portion of the affected models, specifically those with the F-150 3.5 liter “EcoBoost Engine” that were built between Aug. 1, 2013, and Aug. 31, 2014. Additionally, the remedy is grossly inadequate. It merely calls for the replacement of the master cylinder with a new master cylinder that is internally identical to the one that failed. In other words, the recall simply calls for the replacement of one defective part with another defective part.
Despite its awareness of the master cylinder defect and the danger it posed to consumers – vehicle owners, operators and those who share the roads with class vehicles – Ford continued to sell hundreds of thousands of F-150s.
If you feel you have a claim, contact our firm at 800-898-2034 or fill out the contact form on this page, and we will be happy to evaluate your claim.
