Ford PowerShift Settlement Needs Another Look, 9th Cir. Says

Ford Motor Co.‘s class action settlement aimed at resolving faulty PowerShift transmission claims was overturned by the Ninth Circuit Sept. 13.

The trial court’s final approval of the settlement suffered from fatal procedural shortcomings, such that it failed to adequately scrutinize the deal’s fairness to the car owners, a 2-1 panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit said in an unpublished opinion.

A stricter review of settlement procedure is necessary in cases like this one, where the terms are hammered out before class certification, the Ninth Circuit said.

The lower court accepted counsel’s proposals ...