Rebuck v Ford Provides More Fuel For Defending False Advertising Class Actions

Historically, many class actions practitioners considered certification the primary fight in a case. It was common that cases would settle not long after certification, so the whole ballgame was perceived to be in the certification motion. Yet with the courts consistently reaffirming the low bar for certification, we are seeing a greater number of class actions determined on their merits after certification. And as the recent case of Rebuck v Ford Motor Company shows, success on certification is by no means a guarantee of success on the merits.

In that case, the plaintiff had brought a class action against Ford in respect of allegedly false or misleading fuel consumption representations. The case was focused on the EnerGuide labels that were attached to Ford cars sold in Canada in 2013 and 2014. Those EnerGuide labels specified the fuel consumption that the cars could be expected to achieve. However, the labels also contained various disclaimers, including that: