Ford Files Motion To Dismiss Super Duty Roof Lawsuit

Ever since Ford was ordered to pay $1.7 billion in punitive damages back in 2022 over an allegation that the roofs present on 1999-2016 Ford Super Duty models aren’t strong enough to hold up in the event of a rollover crash – a decision that stemmed from a wrongful death lawsuit originally filed in 2014 – the automaker has faced a seemingly endless stream of additional lawsuits pertaining to the same matter. Now, as it awaits a decision from an appeals court on the original Super Duty roof lawsuit, Ford has filed to dismiss another class action.

According to Car Complaints, Ford has asked the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan to dismiss a consolidated lawsuit known as In re Ford Super Duty Roof-Crush Litigation, pointing to the fact that none of the Super Duty owners that are plaintiffs in this suit have been involved in a crash in which the roof collapsed. One plaintiff alleges that their son was involved in such a crash back in 2011, but he wasn’t injured, and the plaintiff purchased a similar truck later on that they still own today.

Ford is also arguing that the plaintiffs in this filing weren’t aware of the potential weak roof issue until the original lawsuit came to light, and once again is pointing to the fact that Super Duty pickups passed federal safety standards at the time. “Of course, the roof of every vehicle could be made stronger. But a roof that could be stronger – which again, is every roof – does not warrant a lawsuit, let alone this putative nationwide class action of uninjured owners. Plaintiffs allege no plausible injury,” the automaker wrote. “Simply because the product does not incorporate features that would make it safer, does not mean that the product is necessarily unsafe. At most, Plaintiffs allege that the purported defect could cause them future harm in a rollover crash. But no such harm has occurred. And it would be improper to award damages to Plaintiffs and other Super Duty owners merely because they might be involved in a rollover crash, which might cause the roof to crush, which might cause them injury.”

While Ford has appealed the original roof crush lawsuit in Georgia, the automaker continues to face new filings on a regular basis. As Ford Authority previously reported, the trucks named in these lawsuits met federal safety standards at the time, which is what FoMoCo has been arguing, though those standards were later changed to address roof strength concerns. Regardless, a number of other roof crush Ford Super Duty lawsuits have been filed since then in the U.S. and Canada, though one of them was recently dismissed, while three of them were consolidated into one this past April.