Justice Elena Kagan wrote the court\u2019s majority opinion holding that \u201cthe connection between the plaintiffs\u2019 claims and Ford\u2019s activities in those States … is close enough\u201d to allow the lawsuits to proceed.<\/p>\n
\u201cBy every means imaginable \u2014 among them, billboards, TV and radio spots, print ads, and direct mail \u2014 Ford urges Montanans and Minnesotans to buy its vehicles,\u201d Kagan wrote. \u201cFord cars … are available for sale, whether new or used, throughout the States, at 36 dealerships in Montana and 84 in Minnesota. And apart from sales, Ford works hard to foster ongoing connections to its cars\u2019 owners.\u201d<\/p>\n
![](\"https:\/\/www.gannett-cdn.com\/presto\/2021\/03\/25\/USAT\/c68c960c-6737-4109-80ee-a913ef7351d8-AFP_550652799.JPG\")
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This file photo, taken on January 27, 2016, shows a Ford logo at the 2016 Washington Auto Show in Washington, D.C. (Photo: MANDEL NGAN, AFP\/Getty Images)<\/span><\/p>\n In one accident, Markkaya Gullett was killed when the tread separated from a rear tire on the 1996 Ford Explorer she was driving in Montana. \u201cThe vehicle spun out, rolled into a ditch, and came to rest upside down. Gullett died at the scene of the crash,\u201d Kagan wrote.<\/p>\n The other accident, in Minnesota, resulted in serious brain injuries to Adam Bandemer, who was a passenger in his friend\u2019s 1994 Crown Victoria when it rear-ended by a snow plow on the way to an ice-fishing spot. Bandemer\u2019s airbag failed to deploy, Kagan wrote.<\/p>\n Ford, which is based in Dearborn, Michigan, tried to dismiss the lawsuits, and when the Montana and Minnesota high courts ruled against it, the company appealed to the Supreme Court.<\/p>\n Justice Amy Coney Barrett did not take part in the case because it was argued in early October, before she joined the court.<\/p>\n