Rodolfo Mejia v. Ford Motor Company

United States District Court for the Central District of California

Rodolfo Mejia v. Ford Motor Company

Trial Court Opinion

Case 2:17-cv-06654-AB-FFM Document 66 Filed 03/24/23 Page 1 of 2 Page ID #:1057

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8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 CENTRAL DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 IN RE: FORD MOTOR CO. DPS6 Case No. 2:17-cv-06654-AB-FFM POWERSHIFT TRANSMISSION 11 PRODUCTS LIABILITY Assigned to: Judge André Birotte, Jr. LITIGATION Courtroom 7B 12 ]PROPOSED] JUDGMENT 13

THIS DOCUMENT RELATES 14 ONLY TO:

15 Mejia v. Ford Motor Co., Case No. 16 2:17-cv-06654-AB-FFM 17 The Court ENTERS JUDGMENT as follows: 18 WHEREAS on January 12, 2023 the jury returned a verdict in favor of 19 plaintiff for $19,121.81 in actual damages and $38,243.62 in civil penalties. 20 WHEREAS there was no deduction or offset from, nor credit against, the 21 amount of actual damages for the $6,100 plaintiff received for the 2013 Fiesta on 22 December 7, 2015 when he traded it in. 23 WHEREAS the parties disagree about whether the trade-in amount should be 24 credited against the actual damages and if so, whether the credit should be applied 25 before the amount of the civil penalty is calculated. 26 WHEREAS the California Supreme Court has accepted for review the 27 Niedermeier v. FCA US LLC (2020)

56 Cal.App.5th 1052

case (“Niedermeier”), 28 Cal. Supreme Court No. S266034, that addresses the issue of trade-in credits. The Case #:17-cv-06654-AB-FFM Document 66 Filed 03/24/23 Page 2of2 Page ID #:1058

1 || matter is fully briefed and a decision is expected in a few months. 2 WHEREAS the parties agree to the following judgment to ensure prompt 3 || payment of the judgment while also conserving resources by avoiding any need for 4 || an appeal or further briefing and Court intervention: 5 e The $19,121.81 of damages shall be reduced by $6,100 to a revised amount of 6 $13,021.80 and will be paid in 30 days; 7 e The civil penalty shall be recalculated using the $13,021.80 of revised 8 damages to $26,043.60 and will be paid in 30 days; 9 e Ford agrees to pay plaintiff the $6,100 in damages and the $12,200 of civil 10 penalty damages if the Niedermier decision is reversed by the California 11 Supreme Court or it holds that offsets for trade-ins or proceeds from the sale 12 of a vehicle should not deducted from the amount of restitution that a 13 consumer may otherwise be entitled to under the law within 30 days’ notice 14 of demand by plaintiff. 15 e Ifthe Niedermeier case is affirmed by the California Supreme Court or it 16 otherwise holds that offsets for vehicle trade-in or sale proceeds must be 17 deducted from the amount of restitution that a consumer may otherwise be 18 entitled to under the law in circumstances applicable to this case, no further 19 damages amounts will be owed to plaintiff by Ford. 20 e If Niedermeier is resolved in a manner that is distinguishable to the 21 circumstances of this case, then the parties agree that instead of the above, the 22 parties will tender the decision to this Court. 23 e The Court shall retain jurisdiction to enforce the judgment. 24 IT IS SO ORDERED. (y VA 291! Dated: March 24, 2023 26 Honorable André Birotte Jr. 07 United States District Court Judge 28

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