— Two Ford 360-degree class action lawsuits have been consolidated in a Michigan court after Ford accused lawyers for the plaintiffs of "forum shopping."
A Ford 360 camera class action lawsuit was filed by plaintiffs Brent Johnson and Scott Jacobs alleging Ford sold and leased these vehicles with defective 350-degree camera systems.
- 2020-2023 Ford Explorer
- 2020-2023 Lincoln Aviator
- 2020-2023 Lincoln Corsair
Ford allegedly made misrepresentations and failed to disclose the camera problems to consumers.
In 2021, Ford recalled Lincoln Aviators, Corsairs and Ford Explorers due to backup camera problems. But in January 2023, Ford recalled the vehicles again after owners alleged collisions occurred due to 360-degree camera failures.
Later in 2023 Ford issued another backup camera recall of Lincoln Aviator, Lincoln Navigator, Ford Transit and Ford Bronco vehicles.
Ford alleges the plaintiffs are "forum shopping" because 10 days after Michigan class action Dorfman v. Ford was filed, a member of the class who resides in Washington state allegedly filed a copycat lawsuit in the Illinois court (Johnson v. Ford).
Dorfman dismissed the Michigan class action and refiled it in Illinois, and Johnson filed a motion to consolidate the cases in Illinois.
However, Ford said the two backup camera class action lawsuits are basically the same and should be transferred to Michigan and consolidated into one lawsuit.
Illinois Judge Edmond E. Chang granted Johnson’s motion to reassign and consolidate Dorfman with the Johnson class action, but the judge also granted Ford's motion to transfer the lawsuits to the Eastern District of Michigan.
