Corder v. Ford Motor Co.

272 F.R.D. 205, 2011 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 944, 2011 WL 30363
CourtDistrict Court, W.D. Kentucky
DecidedJanuary 5, 2011
DocketCivil Action No. 3:05-CV-00016
StatusPublished

This text of 272 F.R.D. 205 (Corder v. Ford Motor Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, W.D. Kentucky primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Corder v. Ford Motor Co., 272 F.R.D. 205, 2011 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 944, 2011 WL 30363 (W.D. Ky. 2011).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OPINION

CHARLES R. SIMPSON, III, District Judge.

This matter is before the court on the plaintiffs motion for class certification (DN 194). The defendant has responded (DN 197) and plaintiff has replied (DN 204). For [207]*207the reasons set forth herein, plaintiffs motion for class certification will be DENIED insofar as he seeks certification of a nationwide class.

BACKGROUND

Plaintiff Kenneth Corder (“Corder”) filed this action against defendant Ford Motor Company (“Ford”) on behalf of himself and others in 2004. The thrust of Corder’s complaint is that Ford did not inform Corder that his 2004 model year truck did not contain a so-called “2004”1 engine, but rather a “2003.25” engine that lacked a number of improvements present in the 2004 model.

Corder purchased a new 2004 Ford F-250 Super Duty pickup containing a 6.0L Power Stroke diesel engine in May 2004. Corder has asserted that he specifically bought a 2004 model year pickup because the engines installed in the 2003 model year trucks had sparked a number of consumer complaints. At the time of the purchase, Corder was an employee at International, the company that manufactured the engines the trucks contained. He first learned that his truck might have a “2003.25” engine from a supervisor at the International engine plant; after inspecting his truck, Corder concluded that this was the ease.

Ford began producing 2004 model year F-Series Super Duty trucks on July 14, 2003. Def.’s Opp’n to Pl.’s Mot. for Class Certification (DN 197), Ex. 1, ¶ 4 (Aff. of Paul Taylor). Between July 14 and July 25, 2003, Ford produced 2004 model year trucks that contained engines identical to those in the 2003 model year trucks. Id. at ¶5. After July 25, Ford began a series of ongoing changes that culminated in the installation of “2004” engines that featured a number of improvements and complied with 2004 emissions standards. Production began on trucks containing these engines on or about October 1, 2003. Ford manufactured and assembled its 2004 model year F-150 Super Duty trucks at plants in Louisville, Kentucky and Cuau-titlan, Mexico. The engines at issue in this case were produced in either Indianapolis, Indiana or Alabama.

Corder’s truck was assembled in September 2003. Ford has admitted that the engine contained in Corder’s truck did not contain at least 30 improvements that were later included in the “2004” engines. Ford has also admitted that it did not disclose to consumers the ongoing modifications being made to the engines.

After discovering that he did not receive a “2004” engine, Corder filed suit against Ford pursuant to the Kentucky Consumer Protection Act (“KCPA”), Ky.Rev.Stat. § 367.170 et seq., alleging that Ford defrauded him and other consumers by failing to disclose to them at the time of purchase that their 2004 model year trucks did not contain “2004” engines.

The KCPA prohibits “[u]nfair, false, misleading, or deceptive acts in the conduct of any trade or commerce.” Ky.Rev.Stat. Ann. § 367.170(1). The statute allows private purchasers or lessees of goods “primarily for personal, family or household purposes” who suffer “any ascertainable loss of money or property” to bring a private suit to recover for the loss. Ky.Rev.Stat. Ann. § 367.220(1).

Following initial discovery, Ford moved for summary judgment, which this court granted on the grounds that Corder failed to show Ford’s actions were false, misleading, or deceptive or that he had suffered the “ascertainable loss” required to maintain a private action under the KCPA. On appeal, the Sixth Circuit reversed, holding that a reasonable jury could find Ford’s actions were deceptive under the KCPA and that a jury could find that Corder suffered some ascertainable loss because he received an engine that was not the same as the one a reason[208]*208able consumer would have expected. See Corder v. Ford Motor Co., 285 Fed.Appx. 226 (6th Cir.2008) (unpublished).

Corder now seeks to certify this class as a multi-state class action on behalf of a class he defines as:

All persons who were original purchasers of 2004 model year Ford F-Series Super Duty Trucks and Excursions which Ford Motor Company manufactured and installed with 6.0L “Power Stroke” diesel engines before October 1, 2003. To be excluded from the Class are the judges to whom this case is assigned and their staff.2

ANALYSIS

Certification of a class action is governed by Rule 23 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. The party seeking certification bears the burden of showing that a class action is appropriate, In re Amer. Med. Sys., Inc., 75 F.3d 1069, 1079 (6th Cir.1996), and the district court must conduct a “rigorous analysis” into whether Rule 23’s requirements are met. Gen. Tel. Co. v. Falcon, 457 U.S. 147,161, 102 S.Ct. 2364, 72 L.Ed.2d 740 (1982). A district court has “broad discretion in determining whether a particular case may proceed as a class action” so long as the court applies Rule 23’s criteria correctly Cross v. Nat’l Trust Life Ins. Co., 553 F.2d 1026,1029 (6th Cir.1977).

1. Class-Wide Application of Kentucky Law

Before we examine the Rule 23 factors, we must address Corder’s argument that the claims of all putative class members may be prosecuted under the Kentucky Consumer Protection Act. Corder seeks to certify a class consisting of all original purchasers of 2004 Ford F-Series Super Duty Trucks that contained the “2003.25” engines. Corder does not specify where these purchasers are located, but requests in his Motion for Class Certification that this court certify a “nationwide” class. PL’s Mot. for Class Certification (DN 194) at 1. Presumably, this means that the class would at least include purchasers from all 50 states and the District of Columbia.

Corder claims Kentucky law applies to all of these purchasers’ claims. When a plaintiff argues for the uniform application of one state’s law to a multi-state class, we must ensure that such choice of law does not violate the principles set forth in Phillips Petroleum Co. v. Shutts, 472 U.S. 797, 105 S.Ct. 2965, 86 L.Ed.2d 628 (1985). In Shutts, the United States Supreme Court held that where a plaintiff seeks to apply a single state’s law in a multi-state class action, that state must have a “significant contact or significant aggregation of contacts, creating state interests, such that choice of its law is neither arbitrary or unfair.” Shutts, 472 U.S. at 818, 105 S.Ct. 2965 (quoting Allstate Ins.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
272 F.R.D. 205, 2011 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 944, 2011 WL 30363, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/corder-v-ford-motor-co-kywd-2011.