Marcus v. BMW of North America, LLC
United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit
687 F.3d 583 (2012)

- Written by Mary Phelan D'Isa, JD
Facts
Jeffrey Marcus (plaintiff) sued BMW of North America, LLC (BMW), Bridgestone Corporation, and Bridgestone Americas Tire Operations (BATO) (defendants) for consumer fraud, breach of warranty, and breach of contract involving allegedly defective Bridgestone run-flat tires. Marcus sought class certification on behalf of all purchasers and lessees of certain model-year BMWs equipped with allegedly defective run-flat tires sold or leased in New Jersey that went flat and had to be replaced. The district court certified the class. BMW, Bridgestone, and BATO appealed and argued that Marcus’s claims did not meet Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 23(a)(3)’s typicality requirement because (1) unlike the average BMW customer, Marcus performed very little research before leasing his car; (2) Marcus leased only one model-year BMW and other class members bought or leased other model-year BMWs; and (3) unique defenses under New York law applied to Marcus’s claims that did not apply to other class members’ claims.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Ambro, J.)
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