Back in 2014, two people were killed when their 2002 Ford Super Duty F-250 pickup rolled over, a tragedy that prompted that couple’s children to file a wrongful death lawsuit against the automaker, claiming that models built between 1999 and 2016 had weak roofs that could crush occupants in the event of a rollover accident. The family was awarded $24 million by a jury, while Ford was ordered to pay $1.7 billion in putative damages, a decision that it later appealed – and ever since then, the automaker has faced several other lawsuits pertaining to the same matter. One of those lawsuits was dismissed last year, and several others were consolidated shortly thereafter – though new filings continue to add to Ford’s legal woes. Now, one such lawsuit – which pertains specifically to a Ford F-350 Super Duty – has been revived following a successful appeal, according to Car Complaints.
This particular situation arose when the owner of a 2001 Ford F-350 Super Duty – Mikyley Reitz – was involved in an accident back in June 2017 after the rear tires of the truck went off the road, causing the driver to lose control and ultimately roll over. Reitz was sadly killed as a result, and her parents filed a lawsuit against the automaker in February 2023.
A judge ultimately dismissed that lawsuit, however, and after amending the filing, it was subsequently dismissed a second time – and following another amendment, a judge opted to dismiss it once again. Those judges argued that the statute of limitations should have began back in June 2017, though the family has maintained that it wasn’t aware of the broader roof crush issue until just recently. Ultimately, an appeals court judge sided with the family, which means that this particular case will proceed.
As a result, a new Ford F-350 Super Duty roof crush lawsuit – Rick Landers, et al. for the Estate of Mikyley Reitzv v. Ford Motor Company – will be will be filed in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, with plaintiffs represented by Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro LLP.
We’ll have more on this and all of Ford’s active lawsuits soon, so be sure and subscribe to Ford Authority for the latest Ford lawsuit news, Ford Super Duty news, and 24/7 Ford news coverage.
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