Timothy Hill, Ricky Vasquez, Harold Schade, Debra Schade, Edward Numrych, Frank Henry, Alberta Tinsley-Talabi, Audrey Ann larkin, Thomas Hunt, Frantz Charles, Arlie Hamilton, Gary Surgeon, Bridgette Surgeon, Patricia Mae Camp, Jessica Dealey and Nathan Lewis owned Ford vehicles that experienced sudden, unintended acceleration incidents that caused them injuries, according to a complaint filed Oct. 18 in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia.
The vehicles would accelerate suddenly and dangerous out of the drivers’ control and lacked readily available appropriate fail-safes to prevent this, according to the suit.
The plaintiffs claim they saw advertisements for and representations about Ford vehicles on television, in magazines, on billboards, in dealership brochures, window stickers and on the Internet that they recall safety and reliability being frequent themes across the advertisements.
Those advertisements about safety and reliability influenced their decisions to purchase their Ford vehicles and had those advertisements and any other materials not omitted that Ford vehicles could accelerate suddenly and out of the driver’s control and lacked readily available appropriate fail-safes to prevent this, they would not have purchased their Ford vehicles, according to the suit.
The plaintiffs claim they experienced multiple sudden, unintended acceleration incidents.
Ford breached its warranties, committed fraud, was unjustly enriched at the plaintiffs expense and violated consumer protection laws, according to the suit.
The plaintiffs are seeking compensatory and punitive damages. They are being represented by Niall A. Paul and Nathan B. Atkinson of Spilman Thomas & Battle; Adam J. Levitt, John E. Tangren, Jeff A. Almeida and Kyle J. McGee of Grant & Eisenhofer PA; Mark DiCello and Robert F. DiCello of the DiCello Law Firm; Timothy C. Bailey and L. Lee Javis II of Bailey, Javins & Carter; James R. Bartimus, Bradley D. Honnold and Anne M. Tarvin of Bartimus, Frickleton, Robertson & Goza; Stephen M. Gorny of the Gorny law Firm; John T. Murray of Murray & Murray Co.; John Scarola and C. Calvin Warriner III of Searcy Denney Scarola Barnhart & Shipley; Joseph J. Siprut; Keith G. Bremer, Alison K. Hurley and Benjamin L. Price of Bremer Whyte Brown & O’Meara; E. Powell Miller, Richard L. Merpi II and Martha J. Olijnyk of the Miller Law Firm; Grant L. Davis, Thomas C. Jones and Timothy C. Gaarder of Davis Bethune & Jones; Gregory M. Travalio and Mark H. Troutman of Isaac Wiles Burkholder & Teetor; Stephen J. Fearon Jr. of Squitieri & Fearon; Paul Bucci of Laffey Bucci Kent LLP; Michael Jaffe and Malcolm T. Brown of Wolf Haldenstein Adler Freeman & Herz; Edgar F> Heiskell III; and Donald H. Slavik of Slavik Law Firm.
U.S. District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia case number: 2:16-cv-09851
