A lawsuit filed against Ford Motor Co. by New York dealer Kitty Van Bortel surrounding reneged plans to purchase a dealership has been dismissed.
Last September, Van Bortel, a dealer based in western New York, entered into an oral agreement with a Ford representative to purchase Henderson Ford in Webster, N.Y., according to the suit.
The representative told her that if another buyer arose, Ford would exercise its right to refusal and give her the deal, according to the complaint. Ford told Van Bortel on Oct. 25 that the company planned to sell Henderson Ford to West Herr Auto Group.
Van Bortel filed the complaint in U.S. District Court on Nov. 15, claiming breach of contract and that Ford discriminated against her based on her sex, violating the state’s Human Rights Law.
But U.S. District Judge David Larimer dismissed the lawsuit Aug. 10, saying an oral agreement between Van Bortel and Ford did not constitute a valid, legal contract.
In his opinion, Larimer compared the case’s facts to a quote from movie mogul Samuel Goldwyn: “A verbal contract isn’t worth the paper it’s written on.”
“Although oral contracts can and do exist, this case demonstrates that oral conversations containing vague promises that are never committed to writing are ill-suited means of forming enforceable contracts,” Larimer wrote.
Regarding the sex discrimination claim, Larimer said there was no evidence to indicate Ford didn’t sell the dealership to Van Bortel based on her being a woman.
Van Bortel “has not alleged facts indicative of discriminatory animus on Ford’s part,” Larimer wrote. “Although plaintiff was not assigned the PSA as she had hoped, there are no allegations indicating that her sex had anything to do with that.”
