Products Liability Law Daily Wrap Up, JURY VERDICTS—MOTOR VEHICLES—M.D. Ga.: Jury awards over $2.5B to estate for defective F250 Super Duty roof, (Feb 18, 2025)
Law Firms Mentioned:Butler Prather, LLP | Troutman Pepper Locke LLP
Organizations Mentioned:Ford Motor Co.
By Wendy Biddle, J.D.
The weak roof which crushed down into the passenger compartment in a rollover was known to the company.
A Georgia jury awarded a married couple’s surviving children over $2.5 billion for their deaths that were caused when the roof of their 2015 Ford F250 “Super Duty” truck crushed down on them during a roll-over crash. The jury concluded that Ford was negligent and strictly liable for the defective design of the roof that caused their deaths. The jury did find that wife, who was driving the truck, was 15% at fault and the judge reduced the compensatory damages by that amount (Brogdon v. Ford Motor Co., No. 4:23-cv-00088-CDL (M.D. Ga. Feb. 14, 2025)).
Allegations. The deceased were married for 30 years. They were driving in their Ford F250 Super Truck when it crashed and rolled over. The roof crushed down on top of them when the truck rolled over one half time and ended up on the roof. The driver, Debra Mills, was pronounced dead at the scene and her husband, Herman Mills, succumbed to his injuries nine days later. The executor of the estate, along with Herman’s son, filed suit against Ford Motor Company.
The complaint alleged that Ford defectively designed the occupant protection system, which caused the roof to crush during a rollover. Ford built the truck with a dangerously weak roof structure in order to cut costs and increase profits. The complaint alleged that Ford’s own documents showed that roof crush was deadly, and that Ford knew of the importance of building roofs that would hold up in a rollover crash.
The complaint also alleged that Ford had put together a team in 2006 to design a stronger roof (the “Enhanced Roof Strength Program for Super Duty Trucks” (ERSP) team) and that team came up with a roof that was five times stronger and also cheaper to manufacture than the roof Ford chose to put in the Mills’ F250 Super Duty truck.
It was not until eleven years later for the 2017 model year that Ford changed the roof of the F250 Super Duty truck to the five-times stronger roof that had been designed specifically for the Super Duty trucks. Instead, in its 2015 models, it used the roof that Ford already knew could result in roof crush in rollover crashes because hundreds of lawsuits had been filed regarding the roofs.
The complaint alleged that Ford was also liable for the design defects of the roof because the risks inherent in the design outweighed any utility of the design.
The complaint also contained a failure to warn claim and a claim for attorney’s fees and expenses. However, before the jury reached its verdict, the court granted Ford’s motion for judgment as a matter of law on the failure to warn claim and the plaintiffs withdrew their claim for attorney’s fees and expenses.
Jury verdict. The jury returned two-phased verdicts in favor of the plaintiffs on the design defect claim and awarded compensatory and punitive damages to the plaintiffs and against Ford. The jury awarded $512,352.80 in compensatory damages to the plaintiff as executor of the estate of Debra Mills. The jury also awarded $15 million in compensatory damages to the two surviving sons of Debra Mills. The jury concluded that Debra Mills was 15 percent at fault in the crash and therefore the compensatory damages award was reduced by 15 percent.
Next, the jury awarded $5 million in compensatory damages to the executor of the estate of Herman Mills, as well as $10 million in compensatory damages to the surviving son of Herman Mills.
As to punitive damages, the jury awarded $2.5 billion jointly to both estates.
The case is No. 4:23-cv-00088-CDL.
Judge: Land, C.
Attorneys: Allison Brennan Bailey (Butler Prather, LLP) for James Edward Brogdon, Jr. Charles Edward Peeler (Troutman Pepper Locke LLP) for Ford Motor Co.
Companies: Ford Motor Co.
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