CA Supreme Court picks up San Bernardino Lemon Law case

The California Supreme Court will review the San Bernardino case Ballesteros v. Ford Motor Co.

The court will review car manufacturers’ motions to compel arbitration.

Briefing is deferred until a decision is made in the Ford Motor Warranty Cases (S279969). Those cases pose the question: "Do manufacturers’ express or implied warranties that accompany a vehicle at the time of sale constitute obligations arising from the sale contract, permitting manufacturers to enforce an arbitration agreement in the contract pursuant to equitable estoppel?"

In the Ballesteros case, Armando Ballesteros sued Fairview Ford Sales, a car dealership, and Ford Motor Co., after buying a defective 2017 Ford Explorer Sport.

The contract he signed covered disputes between Ballesteros and Fairview—not Ford. The trial court compelled arbitration between Fairview and Ballesteros, but denied Ford’s motion to compel arbitration. Ford appealed, arguing Ballesteros’ claims are intertwined with the contract. The First District Court of Appeal, Division Five, found that Ford’s arguments were in error. 

“Indeed, Ford does not explain any circumstance in which a plaintiff who has purchased a new car could go to court on a Song-Beverly Act claim under the theory it proposes…. While manufacturers might rejoice in the idea that such customer-dealer documents automatically insulate them from ever having to face a jury for an alleged breach of a statutory warranty, that is certainly not what the Legislature could have intended when it enacted the Act or the Commercial Code,” the ruling said.

Ballesteros is represented by Kevin Nguyen and Stuart Esner of Pasadena's Esner Chang Boyer & Murphy and Arash Khorsandi, Michael Saeedian, Diane Hernandez and Christopher Urner of Beverly Hills' The Lemon Pros.

Ford is represented by Andrew Chang and Nalani Crisologo of San Francisco's Shook, Hardy & Bacon and Robert Shields and Hang Do of San Diego's Wilson Turner Kosmo.

San Bernardino Superior Court case no. CIVSB2208834.

Appellate case no. A172271.

Superior Court case no. S290724.

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