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A Ford Mustang Mach-E lawsuit is over after the original owner who sued never claimed she had any problems with her vehicle and was only “concerned” about driving it.
Many automotive class action lawsuits are not filed until after a recall or federal investigation, and this Ford Mustang Mach-E lawsuit is no exception.
The lawsuit was filed by Pennsylvania plaintiff Amber Sulligan who owns a 2022 Mach-E she drove “on a couple of local trips” when the Mustang Mach-E was recalled.
Ford recalled 2021-2022 Mustang Mach-E SUVs because they could lose power and shut down due to battery main contactors that could overheat from direct current fast charging or repeated wide open accelerator pedal application.
In addition to the Mustang Mach-E recall, Ford said customers could be reimbursed if they spent their own money for repairs prior to the recall.
Upon learning about the recall, “she returned it to the dealership and it has sat on their lot ever since, due to the Shutdown Defect.”
Due to her concerns, she filed the Ford Mustang Mach-E class action lawsuit for more than $5 million by contending the recall wouldn’t fix her vehicle.
By 2023 the Mustang Mach-E lawsuit included nine plaintiffs who claim they are at risk of an “unreasonable risk of accident, injury, death, or property damage if their vehicle completely or partially loses power while in operation.”
Ford Mustang Mach-E Lawsuit Dismissed
In a motion to dismiss, Ford told the judge the class action was unnecessary because the vehicles had already been recalled, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration approved the recall repairs and the agency was overseeing the process.
According to the judge:
“By filing documents with NHTSA notifying it of a defect, [Ford] set into motion the great grinding gears of a statutorily mandated and administratively overseen national recall process.”
Several claims against Ford had already been dismissed, including allegations the Mustang Mach-E SUVs were defective nationwide. The judge dismissed most of the claims but allowed three state law claims to move forward.
In essence, this meant the vehicles were possibly defective in only three states (California, Georgia and Maine), not nationwide.
Based on the case going from nationwide to just one claim for each of three states, the plaintiffs dropped the Mustang Mach-E lawsuit.
The Ford Mustang Mach-E lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan: Amber Sulligan v. Ford Motor Company.
The plaintiff is represented by Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro LLP, and The Miller Law Firm PC.