BMW must face defective brakes litigation
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A federal appeals court has reinstated a putative class action suit against BMW of North America L.L.C. charging that its carbon ceramic brakes are defective.
Norik Barakezyan had filed suit in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles against Woodcliff, New Jersey-based BMW of North America, according to Thursday’s ruling by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco in Norik Barakezyan v. BMW of North America L.L.C.
The District Court dismissed the case, which a unanimous three-judge appeals court panel reinstated. Mr. Barakezyan’s complaint “contains adequate, plausible allegations that (the brakes’) defect was a manufacturing defect and thereby violated BMW’s express warranty,” said the ruling.
The complaint also “sufficiently alleges that the (brake) defect constitutes a substantial safety hazard and thereby breaches the implied warranty of merchantability,” the ruling said. “Barakezyan need not wait for a dangerous situation to occur to vindicate his right to a vehicle free of substantial safety hazards,” it said.
“Taking the allegations as true, the (brakes’) price premium, acquired through failing to disclose a substantial safety hazard, is a substantial consumer injury.
“That injury is not reasonably avoidable by consumers and there is no countervailing benefit to consumers or competition by BMW failing to disclose its allegedly defective and dangerously loud” brakes, the ruling said.
The case was remanded for further proceedings.
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